Method for preventing erroneous loading of component-to-be-loaded on main body side apparatus, component-to-be-loaded and battery pack

ABSTRACT

In case a similar component-to-be-loaded is erroneously loaded on a main body side apparatus, contact of terminals are avoided. To this end, a video camera (main body side apparatus)  1  has a main body side terminal  30 , and a battery pack (component-to-be-loaded)  100  has a battery side terminal (component-to-be-loaded side terminal)  120 . In the vicinity of the battery side terminal of the component-to-be-loaded, a discriminating tab  111  is provided, and a blocking portion  19  is provided in the vicinity of the main body side terminal of the video camera (main body side apparatus) for determining whether or not its loading is permitted based on the combination of concave and convex engagement with respect to the above-mentioned discriminating tab, and when the loading is not permitted due to the interference between the blocking portion and the above-mentioned discriminating tab, an electric connection between the main body side terminal and the battery side terminal (component-to-be-loaded side terminal) is not to be established.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method for preventing erroneousloading of a component-to-be-loaded that has a terminal aimed forelectric contact, a component-to-be-loaded and a battery pack.

BACKGROUND ART

As a component-to-be-loaded that is aimed for electric contact with amain body apparatus, there is provided a battery pack that is loaded ona video camera.

Such a battery pack can be loaded on a video light, a battery chargerand the like other than the video camera, and is in need of aiming forelectric contact with these appliances all of which are provided with aterminal of the same form.

Additionally, there are plural-types of batteries based on thedifference of capacity and further, as a component-to-be-loaded having aterminal of the same form that is similar to the battery pack, thereare, for example, a dry cell pack, a DC plate and the like. By the way,the DC plate is a component-to-be-loaded that has an outer form like thebattery pack to be loaded on a battery loading portion, has a cord forconnecting to a battery charger and supplies DC electric power to a mainbody apparatus via this component-to-be-loaded.

Since the main body side apparatus and the component-to-be-loaded areeach provided with a terminal of the same form, they are capable ofbeing loaded on each other.

When a dry cell pack is loaded on the battery charger, however, a drycell ends up being charged by the battery charger, which should beavoided. Moreover, there is a video light dedicated to high capacitythat permits loading thereon of only a battery pack with high capacity.A battery pack having low capacity or a battery pack having standardcapacity should be avoided from being loaded on such video lightdedicated to high capacity.

With regard to a similar component-to-be-loaded with a terminal of thesame form, whether or not loading is permitted, is determined by themain body side apparatus that is loaded therewith.

As determined whether or not to permit loading of the similarcomponent-to-be-loaded, the main body side apparatus and thecomponent-to-be-loaded have conventionally been respectively providedwith a concave engaging portion and a convex engaging portion, so thatthe combination of the former and the latter determines whether or notto permit loading of the similar component-to-be-loaded.

However, as mentioned above, in a conventional main body side apparatusand component-to-be-loaded provided with the concave engaging portionand the convex engaging portion, there has been a problem in whichterminals of the two are brought into contact with each other while thecomponent-to-be-loaded is in the state of not completely loaded on themain body side apparatus, that is, in the halfway stage of being loaded.

Particularly, when the component-to-be-loaded is forcedly (carelessly)loaded on the main body side apparatus by being tilted slantingly fromthe regular loading orientation so that both terminals themselves areopposed to each other, both the terminals ended up being brought intocontact with each other.

Then, should a battery pack with different capacity, for example, beloaded on the main body side apparatus, there flows a large amount ofcurrent, which incurs the problem such that the main body side apparatusmalfunctions and is damaged.

In addition, in recent years as the main side apparatus has becomecompact, there is a demand that component-to-be-loaded be also compact.However, when the concave engaging portion and the convex engagingportion are reduced in form and in size as well, the possibility is veryhigh that component-to-be-loaded that should not be capable of beingloaded under regular circumstances are erroneously loaded on the mainbody side apparatus due to changes in form and deformation. In caseerroneous loading is committed, there is a high possibility thatterminals themselves are brought into contact with each other to therebyincur a problem that leads to some kinds of troubles.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to surely preventelectric disturbance from occurring to the main side body apparatusand/or component-to-be-loaded by preventing terminals from contactingwith each other even when a similar component-to-be-loaded iserroneously loaded on the main side body apparatus by any chance.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the method forpreventing erroneous loading of the component-to-be-loaded on the mainbody side apparatus of the present invention is such that the main bodyside apparatus has a main body side terminal while thecomponent-to-be-loaded has a component-to-be-loaded side terminal thatjoins with the main body side terminal, with a discriminating tab beingprovided in the vicinity of the component-to-be-loaded side terminal ofthe component-to-be-loaded and a blocking portion being provided in thevicinity of the main body side terminal of the main body side apparatusto determine whether or not its loading is permitted based on thecombination of concave and convex engagement with respect to theabove-mentioned discriminating tab, and when loading is not permitted byinterference between the blocking portion and the above-mentioneddiscriminating tab, an electric connection between the main body sideterminal and the component-to-be-loaded side terminal is not to beestablished.

In addition, the component-to-be-loaded of the present inventionincludes the component-to-be-loaded side terminal to join with the mainbody side terminal provided in the main body side apparatus, and thediscriminating tab in the vicinity of the component-to-be-loadedterminal to determine whether or not its loading is permitted based anthe combination of concave and convex engagement with respect to theblocking portion provided in the main body side terminal of the mainbody side apparatus, and when loading is not permitted by interferencebetween the blocking portion and the discriminating tab, an electricconnection between the main body side terminal and thecomponent-to-be-loaded side terminal is not to be established.

Accordingly, in the method for preventing erroneous loading of thecomponent-to-be-loaded on the main body side apparatus and thecomponent-to-be-loaded according to the present invention, in case thecomponent-to-be-loaded that can not be loaded under regularcircumstances is erroneously loaded on the main body side apparatus,since the discriminating tab and the blocking portion are provided inthe vicinity of the terminals, it is possible to prevent the terminalsfrom contacting with each other as well as to surely prevent electricaldisturbance of the main body side apparatus and/or thecomponent-to-be-loaded.

In addition, the battery pack of the present invention is a battery packthat is loaded on an electronic apparatus with the battery pack beingslid with respect to the electronic apparatus having a battery loadingportion, and includes a substantially square-pole-like battery case anda battery terminal provided on one end surface thereof in the slidingdirection with an erroneous loading prevention groove being formed onone end surface extending in the sliding direction other than both theend surfaces in the sliding direction of the battery case.

Therefore, according to the battery pack of the present invention, sincethe form seen from the sliding direction is not symmetry at multiplepoints, it is possible to specify unique orientation of the battery packwith respect to the battery loading portion on the side of theelectronic apparatus. As a result, it is impossible to insert thebattery pack into the battery loading portion when the battery pack isin different orientation from the regular orientation, with the resultthat the erroneous loading of the battery pack can be prevented.

Further, such being the case, since the battery pack is inserted intothe battery loading portion with the orientation thereof being in theregular orientation, it is possible to prevent the trouble in which aterminal on the side of the electronic apparatus and a wrong terminalthemselves are brought into contact with each other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the state immediately before abattery pack is loaded on a video camera according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a battery loading portion seen from the rightdirection.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the battery loadingportion taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the battery pack that is exploded.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the battery pack showing the wholethereof.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the battery pack showing the wholethereof seen from the direction different from that of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the battery pack seen from the upperdirection after being exploded.

FIG. 8 is an enlarge view of the battery pack seen from the upperdirection.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged diagram in which the portion of a battery sideterminal is exploded, and respective portions are shifted in the upperand lower directions and are seen from the right direction.

FIG. 10A is a perspective view showing the state of a protection plateof the main body side terminal being rotated.

FIG. 10B is a perspective view of the protection plate of the main bodyside terminal being not rotated.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of a lock mechanism that is inthe state of being disassembled from the battery loading portion.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of the lock mechanism afterbeing disassembled.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged diagram in which a portion of the appearance thatthe battery pack is loaded on or disengaged from the battery loadingportion as in the cases of FIGS. 14 through 16 is cut off and which isseen from the front direction, though this figure shows an initialloading stage.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the battery pack in the halfway stage ofbeing loaded.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the battery pack in the finished stage ofbeing loaded.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the appearance of the battery pack beingdisengaged and a part of the battery pack being in the state of beingfloated by a jump-out-prevention lever.

FIG. 17 is an enlarged view of the battery side terminal seen from theupper direction.

FIG. 18 is an enlarged view of the battery side terminal seen from theleft direction.

FIG. 19 is an enlarged view of the battery side terminal seen from theback direction.

FIG. 20 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the battery side terminaltaken along the line XX-XX in FIG. 18.

FIG. 21 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the battery side terminaltaken along the line XXI-XXI in FIG. 19.

FIG. 22 is an enlarged view of a main body side terminal seen from theleft direction.

FIG. 23 is an enlarged view of the main body side terminal seen from thelower direction.

FIG. 24 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main body sideterminal along the line XXIV-XXIV in FIG. 22.

FIG. 25 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main body sideterminal along the line XXV-XXV in FIG. 22.

FIG. 26 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a battery side terminaland the main body side terminal showing how the two join with eachother, and this figure shows an initial joining stage in which a guidepiece is in the state of being about to enter into a guide groove.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing the state in which a contact portion isabout to contact with a contact piece in the halfway stage of joining.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing the finished state of joining.

FIG. 29 is an enlarged cross-sectional diagram taken along the lineXXIX-XXIX in FIG. 28.

FIG. 30 is an enlarged cross-sectional diagram taken along the lineXXX-XXX in FIG. 28.

FIG. 31, together with FIGS. 32, 33, shows the results of examiningmaterials of a terminal piece and a terminal member as well as platingthereof, and this figure is a diagram showing result tables in relationto contact resistance.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing result tables in relation to engagementforce.

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing result tables in relation to disengagementforce.

FIG. 34 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the contact portion inthe state of being held between the contact pieces in the standardposition.

FIG. 35 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the contact portion inthe state of being held between the contact pieces in the positionshifted in one direction.

FIG. 36 is a graph showing the relationship between the amount ofdisplacement of the contact piece and the contact pressure.

FIG. 37, together with FIGS. 38 to 40, is a diagram for explainingwhether or not loading is permitted based on the combination of pluralkinds of discriminating tabs and the blocking portions, and this figureshows the relations between a blocking portion type I and respectivediscriminating tabs.

FIG. 38 is a diagram showing the relations between a blocking portiontype II and the respective discriminating tabs.

FIG. 39 is a diagram showing the relations between a blocking portiontype III and the respective discriminating tabs.

FIG. 40 is a diagram showing the relations between a blocking portiontype IV and the respective discriminating tabs.

FIG. 41 is a perspective view of an essential portion showing adeformation example of a portion-to-be-locked in the battery pack.

FIG. 42 is a perspective view of an essential portion showing anotherdeformation example of the to-be-locked in the battery pack.

FIG. 43 is a perspective view of an essential portion showing furtheranother deformation example of the in the battery pack.

FIG. 44 is a perspective view of the battery pack of the presentinvention showing the state of the battery pack immediately before it isloaded on the battery loading portion of an electronic apparatus.

FIG. 45, together with FIGS. 46 through 48, is a perspective view of thebattery pack for sequentially explaining the assembling thereof, andthis figure shows the appearance of how the battery side terminal isattached to a substrate.

FIG. 46 shows the appearance of how the substrate is soldered to abattery cell.

FIG. 47 shows the appearance of how the battery cell is housed in alower surface case.

FIG. 48 shows the appearance of how an upper surface case is made tojoin with the lower surface case.

FIG. 49 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the electronic apparatusshowing the appearance of how it has been loaded, and this figure showsthe state before the electronic apparatus is loaded.

FIG. 50 shows the state in which the electronic apparatus is loaded.

FIG. 51 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the battery pack.

FIGS. 52A to 52D are front views of the battery pack and the batteryloading portion for explaining the relations between the two, with theformer having been loaded or about to be loaded on the latter.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a method for preventing a component-to-be-loaded from beingerroneously loaded on a main body side apparatus, acomponent-to-be-loaded and a battery pack will be explained in detailaccording to embodiments illustrated in the attached drawings.

In addition, the embodiments shown in the drawings are such that thepresent invention is applied to the structure of how the battery pack isloaded in a video camera, wherein video camera corresponds to main bodyside apparatus described in the scope of claim, and battery packcorresponds to component-to-be-loaded described in the scope of claim,respectively. In addition, video light, battery charger to be mentionedlater on correspond to main body side apparatus, and dry cell packcorresponds to component-to-be-loaded described in the scope of claim,respectively.

Further, a video camera to be explained in the following is a camera ofthe type which has a lens body tube positioned at its upper portion ofthe camera main body when it is in an ordinary state for use with abattery pack removably loaded on the right side surface. To this end,also in the following, an explanation will be given with this directionas a standard, which means that the U direction, the D direction, the Ldirection, the R direction, the F direction, the B direction which areeach indicated by an arrow mark in each of the drawings respectivelymean the upper direction, the lower direction, the left direction, theright direction, the front direction and the back direction.Furthermore, the orientation (directionality) of the battery pack is notoriginally unique, though in order to explain the case where the batterypack is to be loaded on the above-mentioned video camera, an explanationwill be given of the battery pack with the same orientation(directionality).

A video camera 1 comprises a rectangular solid-like camera main body 2,a lens body tube 3 provided on the upper portion of the camera main body2, a display panel provided on the left surface of the camera main body2 (not shown in figures) and the like.

In addition, on the right surface of the camera main body 2 is provideda battery loading portion 10 that is surrounded by four frame bodies (afront frame body 11, a back frame body 12, an upper frame body 13, alower frame body 14) (refer to FIGS. 1 and 2).

The battery loading portion 10 forms a rectangle when seen from thefront, and is formed to be slightly larger than the front projectionform of a battery pack 100. Further, small ribs 16, 16, . . . extendingin the right and left directions are respectively provided at positionsrespectively shifted to the upper end and lower end of an inner surface(back surface) 11 a of the front frame body 11 and an inner surface(front surface) 12 a of the back frame body 12, though the amount ofprojections of the small ribs is small and the amount of projections isformed to be slightly larger as the ribs near toward the bottom surface15 of the battery loading portion, that is, formed to taper off. Theinterval between the small ribs 16,16 opposing to each other at thebottom surface 15 is formed to be approximately equal to or slightlysmaller than the front and back, and width, dimensions of the batterypack (refer to FIG. 3).

On the inner surface 13 a side of the front portion of the upper framebody 13 constituting the battery loading portion, a terminal 30(hereinafter referred to as main body side terminal) is provided forconnecting to a terminal (hereinafter referred to as pack side terminal)120 of the above-mentioned battery peak 100, and a lock mechanism 40 forholing the battery pack 100 in the battery loading portion 10 isprovided at the center of the lower frame body 14 (refer to FIG. 1).

For a start, the battery pack 100 to be used by the video camera 1 willbe explained.

The battery pack 100 includes a rectangular solid-like battery case 101,battery cells 102, 102 to be housed in the battery case 101, a substrate104 with an IC chip 103 mounted thereon for computing and storing aresidual quantity of the battery pack and the like, and a battery sideterminal 120 to be attached to the substrate 104 and for connecting tothe main body side terminal 30 (refer to FIG. 4).

Here, the battery pack 100 has plural kinds of battery packs mainlybecause capacities thereof are different, and those shown in FIG. 1,FIG. 3 and FIG. 9, FIG. 13 and FIG. 16 belong to the battery pack of thestandard type that is the smallest (thin in thickness) in outward formof the plural kinds of the battery packs 100.

Then, the battery case is comprised of a front surface case 105 and aback surface case 106 (refer to FIG. 4), and the back surface cases 106are the same in size in plural numbers of the types of the battery packs100, though the front surface cases 105 are different in size(thickness) in the battery packs 100 (refer to FIGS. 37 through 40).

On the front portion of the upper surface of the back surface case 106,a concave 107 that is a notch lower than the other portion is formed,and a rectangular cutaway 108 that opens to the front surface side(right direction) and the back surface side (left direction) is formedat the concave 107, with the above-mentioned battery side terminal beingslid from the front surface side (right direction) to be attached to therectangular cutaway 108. The upper surface of the battery side terminal120 that is attached to the rectangular cutaway 108 is the same inheight as the other portion except the concave 107 (refer to FIG. 9).

At the front and back side edges of the rectangular cutaway 108 of theback surface case 106, ribs (hereinafter referred to as terminalpositioning ribs) 109, 109 projected upward while extending in the rightand left directions are respectively formed, and the left ends of theterminal positioning ribs 109, 109 that don't extend to as far as a backsurface 106 a of the back surface case 106 are formed at positionsshifted slightly to the right direction from the back surface case 106 awith the upper surface of these two terminal positioning ribs being thesame in height as the other portion except the upper surface of thebattery side terminal and the concave 107 of the back surface case 106(refer to FIG. 7).

Further, the interval between the two terminal positioning ribs 109, 109is formed to be approximately equal to the dimension in the front andback direction of the above-mentioned battery side terminal 120, and thetwo terminal positioning ribs extend approximately in the rightdirection from the right side edge portion of the attached battery sideterminal, and small projecting barb 110, 110 respectively extending inopposite directions to each other (front and back direction) areintegrally formed at the left end of the battery side terminal 120.Convex portions such as the small projecting bars 110, 110 and theabove-mentioned terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 that are formed inthe vicinity of the battery side terminal 120 are to serve asdiscriminating tabs 111, 111 . . . for discriminating the kind of thebattery pack 100, which will be described later on (refer to FIG. 7).

A right end portion 109 a of the above-mentioned terminal positioningrib 109 overhang the back surface case 106 side when the front surfacecase 105 is combined with the back surface case 106, and the right endportion 109 a of the terminal, positioning rib 109 becomes one of upperside portions-to-be-locked 112 when the battery pack 100 is loaded onthe battery loading portion 10 of the camera main body 2, which will bedescribed later on (refer to FIG. 8).

At the back side corner portion of the upper surface of the back surfacecase 106, a comparatively small concave portion 113 that opens to theupper and back directions, and such small concave portion 113 becomesone of the upper side portions-to-be locked 112 when the battery pack100 is loaded on the battery loading portion 10 (refer to FIG. 8).

Further, on a lower surface 106 b of the back surface case 106 is formeda concave bar groove-to-be-locked 114 extending in the front and backdirection, which a lock pawl 41 of the rock mechanism 40 on the maincamera body 2 side is to lock (to be described later on), and thegroove-to-be-locked 114 serves as a lower side locking portion 112 ofthe battery pack 100 (refer to FIG. 6).

In this manner, by providing the portions-to-be-locked 112 (the rightend portion 109 a of the terminal positioning rib, the concave portion113 and the groove-to-be-locked 114) in various portions of the batterypack side in the back surface case 106, that is, one component, theaccuracy of the position of the battery pack 100 at a time of it beingloaded on the battery loading portion 10 can be improved (refer to FIG.15).

Namely, loading of the battery pack 100 on the battery loading portion10 is performed as the back surface 106 a (left surface) of the backsurface case 106 comes in contact with a bottom surface 15 (refer toFIG. 15), and at the same time, as the portions-to-be-locked 112 invarious portions of the battery pack side (the right end portion 109 aof the terminal positioning rib, the concave portion 113 and the lockedgroove 114) become locked by corresponding locking portions (overhangportion 17 to be described later on, a small convex portion 20, the lockpawl 41) of the battery loading portion 10 side. If the plurality ofportions-to-be-locked 112, 112, . . . are provided in differentcomponent such as in, for example, the back surface case 106 and thefront surface case 105, when the back surface case 106 and the frontsurface case 105 are assembled inaccurately, there occurs play in thelocking state as well as a problem with the coupling state between thebattery side terminal and the main body side terminal 30.

Then, with formation of the above-mentioned portions-to-be-locked 112for positioning concentrated in one part (back surface case 106) as inthe case of the battery pack 100, the accuracy of the position of thebattery pack 100 in its loaded state can be improved, which makes itpossible for the accuracy of the coupling between the back surface case106 and the front surface case 105 to be not so precise.

In addition, in the region that is an upper front portion of the frontsurface case 105 and corresponds to the above-mentioned battery sideterminal 120, a recess portion 115 that is approximately the same inheight as the concave portion 107 of the back surface case 106 isformed, and at the left side edge of the recess portion 115, there isformed a terminal pressing rib 116 for pressing the battery sideterminal 120 from the right direction (refer to FIGS. 7 through 9).

The length in the front and back direction of the terminal pressing rib116 is formed to be approximately the same as the interval between thetwo terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 of the above-mentioned backsurface case 106, that is, almost the same as the dimension in the frontand back direction of the battery side terminal 120, and as a result,when the front surface case 105 is assembled to the back surface case106, the terminal pressing rib 116 is positioned between theabove-mentioned terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 and presses thebattery side terminal 120 from the left direction, with the two terminalpositioning ribs 109, 109 of the back surface case 108 slightlyprojected more rightward than the terminal pressing rib 116 serving asthe portions-to-be-locked 112, 112 (refer to FIG. 8).

With the battery pack 100 of a standard capacity type, tworectangular-solid-like battery cells 102, 102 are housed in a batterycase aligned one before the other, and the above-mentioned substrate 104is attached on the upper portion thereof, with the above-mentionedbattery side terminal 120 mounted on the front portion and theabove-mentioned IC chip 103 mounted on the back portion, of thesubstrate 104 (refer to FIG. 4).

In this manner, since the battery side terminal 130 is provided at aposition shifted in one direction with respect to the battery pack 100,it becomes possible to provide a comparatively large space at a portionon the opposite side thereof, which makes it possible to arrange thereinelectronic portions such as the IC chip 103 and the like to therebyimprove efficient use of the space. Specifically, when the rectangularsolid-like battery cells 102 are arranged in the battery case 101, thereoccurs no dead space, so that the battery cells 102; 102 can beeffectively arranged within the battery pack 100. Though it is difficultto secure a space to arrange the battery side terminal 120, the IC chip103 on the substrate 104 and the like which jut out from the batterycell, effective use of the space can be carried out by arranging thebattery side terminal 120 at the shifted position with respect to thebattery pack 100 as mentioned above (refer to FIGS. 4 and 7).

In addition, since the battery side terminal 120 is provided at theshifted position with respect to the battery pack, erroneous loading ofthe battery pack 100 on the camera main body 2 can be prevented.

Meanwhile, detailed forms of the battery side terminal 120 and therectangular cutaway 108 that is a receiving side of the battery sideterminal 120 and the method of assembling the both will be described indetail later on.

Next, the battery loading portion 10 of the camera main body 2 will beexplained in detail.

The dimension of the battery loading portion 10 of the camera main body2 from the top to the bottom is formed to be slightly larger than thethickness (thickness in the left and right direction) of the backsurface case 106 of the above-mentioned battery case 101. As a result,in the state in which the battery pack 100 is loaded on the batteryloading portion 10, the back surface case 106 is positioned inside thebattery loading portion 10, and almost all the portion of the frontsurface case 105 juts out from the camera main body 24 (refer to FIGS. 3and 15).

A main body side terminal 30 is provided at a position opposed to theabove-mentioned main body side terminal 120, that is, the corner portionbetween the inner surface (lower surface) of the upper frame body 13 andthe bottom surface 15, or a position on the diagonally upper front side(refer to FIG. 10).

In a region corresponding to the position where the above-mentioned mainbody side terminal 30 is provided, the region being an opening side edge(right side edge) of an inner surface 13 a of the upper frame body 13,an over-hang portion 17 projecting in the lower direction is formed,with the dimension between the over-hang portion 17 and the bottomsurface 15 of the battery loading portion 10 being formed to be the sameas that between the back surface 106 a of the above-mentioned backsurface case 106 and the right end portion of the terminal positioningrib 109 (refer to FIG. 15).

As a result, when the battery pack 100 is loaded on the battery loadingportion 10, and the right end portion 109 a of the terminal positioningrib 109 is locked by the over-hang portion 17, there is no play betweenthe two. Consequently, it is possible for locking to be carried out inthe state in which no play occurs in the region on the front side of theupper portion of the battery pack 100 (refer to FIG. 15).

From the back portion of the over-hang portion 17 toward the bottomsurface 15 of the battery loading portion 10 (left direction) aprojecting bar (hereinafter referred to as a blocking projecting bar) 18is integrally formed, and the tip portion of the blocking projecting bar18 extends to a position properly apart from the bottom surface 15(refer to FIG. 10) so that it does not interfere with theabove-mentioned discriminating tab 111 of the back surface case 106 ofthe above-mentioned battery pack 100.

Such blocking projecting bar 18 and a small projecting portion 18 a inthe vicinity of the main body side terminal 30 to be described later onserve as a blocking portion 19 for determining whether or not thebattery pack 100 is to be loaded. Meanwhile, since the above-mentionedblocking portion 19 is made not to interfere with the discriminating tab111 of the battery pack 100, loading of the battery pack 100 on thebattery loading portion 10 is permitted, though in an apparatus, forexample, a video light 150 (the battery pack 100 with low capacity isnot to be loaded thereon) for loading such battery pack 100, there is acase where loading of the battery pack is not permitted due todifference in capacity of the battery pack 100.

On an occasion such as this, it is designed such that theabove-mentioned blacking portion 19 extends in the vicinity of thebottom surface 16 of the battery loading portion 10 to thereby interferewith the above-mentioned discriminating tab 111, with the result thatloading of the battery pack 100 is blocked. Whether or not to permitloading of such battery pack 100 is exercised based on the forms of andpositional relations between the discriminating tab 111 of theabove-mentioned battery pack 100 side and the above-mentioned blockingportion 19, which will be described in detail later on.

At a position corresponding to the small convex portion 113 of theabove-mentioned back surface case 106, the position being a cornerportion between the back side of the inner surface (lower surface) 13 aof the upper frame body 13 of the battery loading portion 10 and aninner surface (front surface) 12 a of the back frame body 12 is formed asmall convex portion 20 that exactly engages with the small concaveportion 113 (refer to FIG. 10), and the position at which the smallconvex portion 20 is formed from the bottom surface 15 of the batteryloading portion coincides with the position at which the above-mentionedsmall concave portion 113 is formed from the back surface 106 a of theback surface case 106. As a result, when the battery pack 100 is loadedon the battery loading portion 10, locking of the battery pack in theback side region of the upper portion is performed without any play.

A rectangular aperture (hereinafter referred to as a push-up platedisposition aperture) 21 is formed at the lower center of the bottomsurface 15 of the battery loading portion 10, and there is provided acutaway portion (hereinafter referred to as a lock lever dispositionaperture) 22 continuing from the above-mentioned push-up platedisposition aperture 21 on the inner surface (upper surface) of thelower frame body 14 (refer to FIG. 2).

The lock mechanism 40 comprises a lock lever 42 having the lock pawl 41that engages with the groove-to-be-locked 114 formed on the lowersurface of the battery pack 100, a push-up plate 43 for pressing abottom surface 106 a of the battery pack 100 in the direction in whichis disengaged, a jump-out prevention lever 44 for preventing the batterypack 100 from jumping out when locking is released by theabove-mentioned lock lever 42, and these lock lever 42, push-up plate 43and jump-out prevention lever 44 are rotatably supported on the sameshaft by a base plate 45 on the inside of the corner portion between thelower frame body 14 and the bottom surface 15 (refer to FIGS. 11 and12).

Then, the base plate 45 is housed inside of and fixed to the lower framebody 14, and the above-mentioned lock lever 42 is disposed in anabove-mentioned lock lever disposing aperture 22 of the lower frame body14, the push-up plate 43 in a push-up plate disposition aperture 21, thejump-out protection lever 44 in a rectangular-like cutaway (hereinafterrefer to as a jump-out protection lever disposing apertures) 46 that isformed continuous from the aperture 22, respectively (refer to FIG. 11).

In addition, a coil portion 48 a of a helical torsion spring 48 is fitaround a rotation shaft 47 that rotatably supports the lock lever 42,the push-up plate 43 and the jump-out protection lever 44, with one armportion 48 b acting on the lock lever 42 and the other arm portion 48 cacting on the push-up plate 43 to thereby rotatably urge the lock lever42 in the upward direction and urge the push-up plate 43 in the rightdirection (refer to FIG. 12).

The lock lever 42 lends itself an appearance such that the whole thereofis an L-letter lying on its side, with an upper surface piece 49 beingformed to become a portion of the inner surface (upper surface) of theabove-mentioned power frame body 14, a cross-sectional triangle-likelock pawl 41 being formed in the front and back direction, extending toa position that is shifted to the center of rotation of the uppersurface piece 49, and an operation portion 50 being formed at the lowerportion of the right side surface for operating the lock lever 42 (referto FIGS. 11 and 12).

Then, the lock pawl 41 is formed such that it is slightly shifted in theright direction (front side) from the bottom surface 15 of the batteryloading portion 10, with the distance from the bottom surface 15 beingequal to the distance from the bottom surface 106 a of thegroove-to-be-locked 114 of the above-mentioned battery pack 100 so thatthe battery pack 100 is resultantly pressed against the bottom surface15 of the battery loading portion 10 when the lock pawl 41 engages withthe groove-to-be-locked 114 (refer to FIG. 15).

In addition, on both the left and right side portions of the uppersurface piece 42 of the lock lever 42 there are respectively formedsmall projections 51, 51 that contact with edge portions of the locklever disposing aperture 22 of the lower frame body 14, and with theprojections 51, 51 colliding from the inside with the edge portions ofthe above-mentioned lock lever disposing aperture 22, rotational urgingby the above-mentioned helical torsion spring 48 is blocked. In such astate the upper surface of the upper surface piece 49 is flush with theupper surface of the lower frame body 14.

The push-up plate 43 has small pieces 52, 52 projecting in the lowerdirection from the center of rotation integrally formed, and with thecontact of small pieces 52, 52 with the above-mentioned base plate 45,rotational urging by the above-mentioned helical torsion spring 48 isblocked. In such a state the push-up plate 43 is in the state ofprojecting in the right direction from the push-up plate dispositionaperture 21 (refer to FIG. 12).

The jump-out prevention lever 44 has a helical compression spring 54provided in compressed form between the lower surface of a rotationalend portion and a protruding piece 53, and the jump-out prevention lever44 is thereby rotatably urged in the upper direction like theabove-mentioned lock lever 42 is (refer to FIGS. 13 through 16). By theway, in FIGS. 13 through 16, the above-mentioned battery side terminal120 and the main body side terminal 30 are omitted.

The jump-out prevention lever 44 has a pawl portion 55 formed at therotational end, that projects in the upper direction, and there isintegrally formed a rotation blocking piece 56 at the base end portionthereof, that projects in the forward direction. With the collision ofthe rotation blocking piece 56 with a restraining piece 57 formed in thebase plate 45, rotational urging by the above-mentioned helicalcompression spring 54 is blocked. In such a state, the above-mentionedpawl portion 55 projects in the upper direction from the upper surfaceof the lower frame body 14 (refer to FIGS. 13 through 16).

In addition, the pawl portion 55 of the jump-out prevention lever 44 isformed more rightward than the lock pawl 41 of the lock lever 42 (referto FIGS. 13 through 16).

In this manner, when the battery pack 100 is not in the state of beingloaded on the battery loading portion 10, the lock pawl 41 of the locklever 42 and the lock portion 55 of the jump-out prevention lever 44projects in the upper direction from the upper surface of the lowerframe body 14, and the push-up plate 43 is in the state of projecting inthe right direction from the bottom surface of the battery loadingportion 10 (refer to FIG. 13 or FIG. 16).

Then, when the battery pack 100 is about to be loaded on the batteryloading portion 10, a procedure will be carried out in the followingmanner, and the loaded battery pack 100 is held in a locked state withinthe battery loading portion 10 by the above-mentioned lock mechanism.

First of all, the battery pack 100 is inserted in the battery loadingportion 10 with the upper portion thereof being tilted, and the batteryside terminal 120 (including the terminal positioning rib 109 of theback surface case 105 and the terminal pressing rib 116 of the frontsurface case 105) is slid into the inside of the over-hang portion 17 ofthe battery loading portion 10. Then as mentioned before, since thediscriminating tab 111 on the side of the battery pack 100 does notinterfere with the member (blocking portion 19) on the side of thebattery pack 100, the battery side terminal 120, the terminalpositioning rib 109 and the terminal pressing rib 116, of the batterypack 100 can be slid deep into the over-hang portion 17 (refer to FIG.13).

At this time, terminal members 122, 122, 122 of the above-mentionedbattery side terminal 120 and three terminal pieces 31, 31, 31 of themain body side terminal 30, not shown, are separately joined with eachother.

In addition, as will be described in detail later on, by having thediscriminating tab 111 on the side of the battery pack 100 and theblocking portion 19 on the side of the battery loading portion 10 formedso as to interfere with each other, the above-mentioned battery sideterminal 120 can not be slid deep into the over-hang portion 17 of thebattery leading portion 10. Therefore, the terminal member 122 of thebattery side terminal 120 and the terminal piece 31 of the main bodyside terminal 30 are intended not to join with each other.

Moreover, if the battery pack 100 is forced to be loaded on the batteryloading portion 10 even when the blocking portion 19 of the loadingportion 10 and the discriminating tab 111 of the battery pack 100interfere with each other, there will be a remote possibility in whichthe battery pack can be loaded thereon as a result of bending of theupper frame body 13 of the battery loading portion 10 as theabove-mentioned discriminating tab 111 presses the blocking portion 19.

On such an occasion, however, since the blocking portion 19 and thediscriminating tab 111 are formed in the vicinity of both the terminals120, 30, the main body side terminal 30 retreats in the direction towardwhich it is pressed, with the result that both of the terminals do notjoin with each other. Consequently, the terminal piece 31 and theterminal member 122 do not come in contact with each other and therebythe electric contact can be avoided.

Next, with the upper portion of the battery pack 100 (the portion of thebattery side terminal 120, which is locked by the over-hang portion 17)as a rotation fulcrum, the lower portion of the battery pack 100 isrotated leftward so that it is loaded on the battery loading portion 10(refer to FIGS. 14 and 15).

At this time, after the pawl portion 55 of the jump-out protection lever44 of the above-mentioned lock mechanism 40 is kicked downward by thelower left side of the battery pack 100, the pawl portion 55 engageswith the groove-to-be-locked 114 (refer to FIG. 14).

Further, as the lower portion of the battery pack 100 is pressed againstthe battery pack 100, the pawl portion 55 of the above-mentionedjump-out prevention lever 44 is kicked by the edge portion of thegroove-to-be-locked 114 and at the same time, the lock pawl 41 of thelock lever 42 is kicked by the lower left side edge portion (bottomsurface side corner portion) and then, the lock pawl 41 engages with thegroove-to-be-locked 114 to thereby complete loading of the battery pack100 (refer to FIG. 15).

In addition, prior to the lock pawl 41 engaging with thegroove-to-be-locked 114, the lower surface 106 a of the battery pack 100rotates the push-up plate 43 in the left direction so that the lowersurface 106 a of the battery pack 100 is to approximately contact faceto face with the lower surface 15 of the battery loading portion 10(refer to FIG. 15).

Then, the rotations of these lock lever 42, jump-out protection lever 44and push-up plate 43 are performed against the spring force of theabove-mentioned helical torsion spring 48 or helical compression spring54.

At this time the terminal member 122 of the battery side terminal 120joins with the terminal piece 31 of the main body side terminal 30 andat the same time, the right end portion 109 a (portion-to-be-locked 112)of the terminal positioning rib 109 provided on the upper portion of thebattery pack 100 engages with the over-hang portion 17, with the concaveportion 113 (portion-to-be-locked 112) of the battery pack 100 engagingwith the small convex portion 20 of the battery loading portion 10.

As a result, on the upper portion of the battery pack 100, the right endportion 109 a (portion-to-be-locked 112) of the terminal positioning rib109 and the over-hang portion 17, and the small concave portion 113(portion-to-be-locked 112) and the small convex portion 20 engage, witheach other, respectively while the lock pawl 41 and thegroove-to-be-locked 114 engage with each other at the lower portion ofthe battery pack 100 so that the battery pack 100 is held in the batteryloading portion 10 (refer to FIG. 15).

The lock pawl 41 of the lock lever 42 and the pawl portion 55 of thejump-out protection lever 44 press the battery pack 100 in the upwarddirection to thereby press the battery pack 100 against the upper framebody 13 so that positioning thereof in the up and down direction isperformed (refer to FIG. 15).

As a result, the battery side terminal 120 is pressed against the mainbody side terminal 30 so that the stable joining state between theterminal member 122 and terminal piece 31 is maintained. Particularly,the battery side terminal 120 and the main body side terminal 30 areprovided at positions shifted in the forward direction relative to thebattery pack 100 and also, since the jump-out prevention lever 44 isprovided at a position shifted in the forward direction from the middleportion of the front and back direction, that is, the jump-outprevention lever 44 is provided at a position opposed to both theterminals 120, 30, the battery pack 100 is pressed upward by the pawlportion 55 so that the stable joining state between the terminal member12 and the terminal piece 31 can be ensured (refer to FIG. 2).

Further, since the battery pack 160 has the lower portion thereofpressed in the right direction by the push-up plate 43, which is to beblocked by the engagement between the lock 41 and thegroove-to-be-locked 114, positioning in the loading direction (left anddirection) of the battery pack 100 is performed and furthermore, sincethe battery pack 100 is regulated by the small ribs 16, 16 that areformed on the inner surface (back surface) 11 a of the front frame body11, and on the inner surface (front surface) 12 a of the back frame body12, positioning thereof in the front and back direction is performed(refer to FIG. 3).

The battery pack 100 having been loaded on the battery loading portion10 of the camera main body 2 in such a manner will be unloaded in thefollowing way.

That is, first of all, lock disengagement of the lock mechanism bypressing the operation portion 50 by hand or finger is performed (referto FIG. 16.).

When the lock lever 42 is operated, it is rotated in the lower directionagainst the spring force of the helical torsion spring 48 and therebydisengaged from the groove-to-be-locked 114 of the battery pack 100.

When the lock pawl 41 is disengaged from the battery pack 100, the lowerportion of the battery pack 100 is pressed in the left direction by thepush-up plate 43 and lifts from the bottom surface 15 of the batteryloading portion 10 (refer to FIG. 16).

At this time, when the lower portion the battery pack 100 slightlyfloats from the bottom surface 15, the pawl portion 55 of the jump-outprevention lever 44 engages with the groove-to-be-locked 114. As aresult, although the battery pack 100 floats from the battery loadingportion 10, since the pawl portion 55 of the jump-out prevention lever44 is caught by the groove-to-be-locked 114, the battery pack 100 doesnot jump out inadvertently. Particularly, when the video camera 1 isoriented in the above-mentioned direction (direction in which shootingordinarily is performed), even if the locking of the battery pack 100 isdisengaged, the pawl portion 55 of the jump-out prevention lever 44 iscaught by the groove-to-be-locked 114 so that the battery pack 100 isnot disengaged from the battery loading portion 10, with the result thatthe battery pack 100 can be prevented from dropping therefrom.

Next, by having the battery pack 100 whose lower portion is liftinggripped and pulled out by hand in the direction in which it is beingdisengaged (right direction), the battery pack 100 is easily disengagedfrom the battery loading portion 10 because of disengagement between thepawl portion 55 of the jump-cut prevention lever 44 and thegroove-to-be-locked 114.

Next, the battery side terminal 120 and how it is assembled to thebattery pack 100 will be explained in detail.

As mentioned above, the battery side terminal 120 is comprised of aterminal case 121 and the terminal members 122, 122, 122 that areprovided therein by insert molding, and the terminal case 122 lendsitself a flat cubic solid block-like appearance with five grooves 123,123, 124, 124, 124 opening upward as well as leftward being formed(refer to FIGS. 17 through 19).

Of the above-mentioned five grooves, two grooves 123, 123 on the frontside and back side are larger in width than other three grooves 124,124, 124 and formed larger in length and depth than the other threegrooves 124, 124, 124 and serve as guide grooves for positioning, aswill be described later on, with respect to the main body side terminal30 (refer to FIGS. 17 through 19).

In addition, the median three grooves 124, 124, 124 of theabove-mentioned five grooves serve as terminal disposition grooves 124,124, 124 with a pair of contact pieces 125 being arranged to face eachother in each of the grooves 124, and a housing space 126 for housingthe above-mentioned contact pieces 125, 125 is formed inside of theterminal disposition grooves 124, 124, 124 (refer to FIGS. 17 and 18).By the way, only one terminal member 122 is illustrated by broken linein FIG. 17 and FIG. 18, and the other two terminal members 122, 122 areomitted.

Further, chamfering process such as an R corner, taper corner or thelike have are applied to the opening side edges of these guide grooves123, 123 and terminal disposition grooves 124, 124. As a result, as willbe described later on, guide pieces 32, 32 of the main body sideterminal 30 and the terminal pieces 31, 31, 31 are easily inserted intothese respective grooves 123, 123, 124, 124, 124 (refer to FIGS. 26through 28).

The respective terminal members 122 of the battery side terminal 120 areintegrally formed of the contact pieces 125, 125 facing each other, abase piece 127 connecting one contact piece 125 with the other 125, anda lead piece 128 that is soldered to the substrate 104 arranged in thebattery case 101 and extends from the base piece 127 in the directionopposite to the contact pieces 125, 125 (refer to FIGS. 21 and 22).

The contact pieces 125, 125 have the base portions there of embedded inthe above-mentioned terminal case 121, and hemispherical contact convexportions 125 a, 125 a projecting in the direction in which they arenearing each other are formed at the tip portions thereof, the twocontact convex portions 123 a, 125 a being in the state of contactingwith each other without pressure being applied to the both (so-calledzero-contact state). When the terminal disposition grooves 124, 124, 124of the battery side terminal 120 are looked at, only the two contactconvex portions 125 a, 125 a can be seen (refer to FIGS. 20 and 21).

Therefore, when a contact portion 35 is inserted in the terminaldisposition groove 124, it contacts with only the contact convexportions 125 a, 125 a. From whichever of two directions (left and rightdirection and upper to lower direction) the contact portion 35 isinserted in the terminal disposition groove 124, since the springcharacteristics of the contact pieces 125, 125 are the same, the contactstability between both of the terminals 120 and 30 can resultantly beensured. Of course, this effect is limited to the case where attentionis focused on only the structure of the terminal, though only insertionsfrom the back left and right directions have been practiced with respectto the loading of the battery pack 100 on the video camera 1 in theabove-mentioned embodiments.

The base piece 127 is exposed at a position where it is attached to theright side surface of the terminal case 121, and the lead piece 128 isbent at right angles and extended in the right direction from the loweredge of the base piece 127 to be approximately flush with a bottomsurface 121 a of the terminal case 121 (refer to FIGS. 20 and 21).

On the front and back both side surfaces of the terminal case 121 areformed slide convex portions 129, 129 extending in the left and rightdirection, and the slide convex portions 129, 129 are the front andback, both side edges of the rectangular cutaway 108 of theabove-mentioned back surface case 106 and slide-engage with slidegrooves 117, 117 formed on the lower side of the terminal positioningrib 109 so that the battery side terminal 120 is supported to the backsurface case 106 (refer to FIG. 9).

The left ends of the slide grooves 117, 117 of the back surface case 106are blocked up so that leftward positioning of the battery side terminal120 is performed when it is slide-engaged therewith. That is to say, theposition from the back surface 106 a of the back surface case 106 to thebattery side terminal is regulated.

There are formed cut grooves 130, 130 that are respectively the cornerportions between the right side surface and front side surface andbetween the right side surface and back side surface and contiguous tothe upper side of the above-mentioned slide convex, portions 129, 129,and the cut grooves 130, 130 are to be engaged with projections 118, 118provided leftward from the front and back end portions of theabove-mentioned terminal pressing rib 116 (refer to FIG. 9).

Then, such battery side terminal 120 has three lead pieces 128, 128, 128soldered at predetermined positions (front side left corner portion) ofthe above-mentioned substrate 104 and mounted on the front side cornerportion of the substrate 104 (refer to FIGS. 4 and 7). In addition,electronic portions such as an IC chip 103 and the like are mounted onbackside predetermined positions of the substrate 104, where the batteryside terminal 120 is not mounted on (refer to FIG. 7).

Therefore, the battery cells 102, 102 are combined with each other inthe front-to-back aligned state, and the above-mentioned substrate 104on which the above-mentioned battery side terminal 120, IC chip 103 andthe like have been mounted is attached on the upper portion of thebattery cells 102, 102 (refer to FIG. 4).

Next, the battery cells 102, 102 on which such substrate 104 had beenattached is inserted in the back surface case 106 from the rightdirection hereof. At this time, the battery side terminal 120 isglide-inserted in the rectangular cutaway 108 of the back surface case106 from the right direction (refer to FIG. 7).

Then, as mentioned above, the slide convex portions 129, 129 of thebattery side terminal 120 are inserted in the slide grooves 117, 117 ofthe back surface case 106 (refer to FIG. 7).

Finally, both are combined with each other by joining the front surfacecase 105 with the back surface case 106 to thereby cover the batterycells 102 (refer to FIG. 8).

At this time, the projections 118, 118 of the front case 105 are engagedwith the cut grooves 130, 130 of the back surface case 106, and at thesame time, the terminal pressing rib 116 presses the right surface ofthe terminal case 121 to thereby cover the base pieces 127, 127, 127 ofthe terminal member 122, which are exposed from the right surfacethereof. Then, positioning in the left and right direction of thebattery terminal 120 is performed with the battery terminal 120 heldbetween the back surface case 106 and the front surface case 105.

The combination of the front surface case 105 and the back surface case106 is performed in the state in which the opening peripheral edges ofthe both are joined with each other by ultrasonic welding. In addition,the both may be bonded with each other with adhesives instead ofultrasonic welding.

As just described, the battery pack 100 can be composed of threeportions in such a manner that the back surface case 106, the batterycell 102 (including the battery side terminal 120, the substrate 104 andthe like), the front surface case 105 are assembled thereto from onedirection.

Next, the combination of the main body side terminal 30 and theabove-mentioned battery side terminal 120 will be explained in detail.

First of all, the main body side terminal 30 is provided at theabove-mentioned position (front portion bottom surface side corner), andcomprises three terminal pieces 31, 31, 31 provided to project from thebottom surface 15 and the inner surface 13 a of the upper frame body 13,the two guide pieces 32, 32 provided to sandwich these terminal pieces31, 31, 31 from the front and back directions and a protection platerotatably provided on the upper frame body 13 so as to cover the upperspace of the respective terminal pieces 31, 31, 31 (refer to FIGS. 22and 23).

The terminal piece 31 is a rectangular flat plate seen from the frontand back direction with the upper edge and left edge thereof beingembedded in the upper frame body 13, and a lead portion 34 is providedto project from the upper frame body 13 (refer to FIG. 24), the portion(down edge and right edge) exposed from the upper frame body 13 servingas the contact portion 35 held between the contact pieces 125, 125 ofthe above-mentioned battery side terminal 120, and the end side edgethereof have been chamfered.

Three of the terminal pieces 31, 31, 31 are formed at the same intervalas that of the terminal disposition grooves 124, 124, 124 of theabove-mentioned battery side terminal 120, and the thickness of each ofthe terminal piece 31 is formed into approximately a half of the widthof the terminal disposition groove 124 formed in the above-mentionedbattery side terminal 120 (refer to FIGS. 22 and 23).

The guide piece 32 is of a rectangular shape similar to that of theabove-mentioned terminal piece 31 when seen from the front and backdirection, and is integrally formed together with the upper frame body13 and the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading portion (refer toFIG. 24).

In addition, the guide terminals 32; 32 are larger than the contactportion 35 of the terminal piece 31 when seen from the front and backdirection, and the plate thickness thereof is formed to be thicker thanthe terminal piece 31. Further, the guide terminals 32, 32 are formed atthe same internal as that of the guide grooves 123, 123 formed in theabove-mentioned battery terminal 120, and the plate thickness of each ofthe guide pieces 32, 32 is formed to be slightly smaller than the widthof the guide grooves 123, 123 of the terminal case 121 of theabove-mentioned battery side terminal 120 with the end side edge thereofbeing chamfered (refer to FIG. 23).

As described above, since the guide piece 32 is formed to be larger thanthe contact portion 35 of the terminal piece 31, when the main body sideterminal 30 is about to be combined with the battery side terminal 120,the guide is made to enter into the guide groove 123 of the guide piece32 earlier than the contact portion 35 enters into the terminal groove124 (refer to FIG. 26).

The protection plate 33 is supported to the position closer to theopening side edge (right side edge) of the front end portion of theinner surface (undersurface) of the upper frame body 13 for freelyrotating in the up and down direction (refer to FIGS. 24 and 25).

To be concrete, at the front end portion of the inner surface (lowersurface) of the upper frame body 13 is formed a convex-like protectionframe housing 13 b, and at the front and back both side edges of theprotection plate 33 are integrally formed support shaft projectingportions 36, 36 for rotatably engaging with the right end both sideportions of the above-mentioned protection plate housing portion 13 b,and a coil spring 37 is arranged around the front side support shaftprojecting portion 36. The protection plate 33 is urged in thecounterclockwise direction when seen from the backward direction (referto FIGS. 24 and 25).

At a rotation fulcrum portion of the protection plate 33 are providedrotation blocking portions 38, 38 (only one is shown in the figures)that are in contact with the upper frame body 13 for blocking theabove-mentioned counterclockwise rotation, and the protection platebecomes a rotational end of the counterclockwise direction side thereofwhen the rotational end thereof is oriented in the left oblique downwarddirection (substantially 45° degrees) (refer to FIGS. 10(a), 24, and29). In addition, the rotational end of the clockwise direction side ofthe protection plate 33 is at a position where it is housed in theprotection plate housing portion 13 b of the upper frame body 13, orapproximately in a horizontal position (refer to FIG. 10(b)).

The protection plate 33 in the front and back direction is slightlysmaller in size than the distance between the above-mentioned two guidepieces 32, 32 and is made to always rotate between the two guide pieces32, 32. At the position corresponding to the above-mentioned terminalpiece 31 are formed slits 39, 39, 39 that open to the rotational endside edge. As a result, when the protection plate 33 is rotated upward,the respective terminal pieces 31, 31, 31 are inserted in these slits39, 39, 39 to permit the protection plate 33 to rotate, with theterminal pieces 31, 31, 31 being exposed at the time of rotation (referto FIGS. 10, 22, and 23). By the way, FIG. 10(a) shows the state inwhich the protection plate has been rotated, and FIG. 10(b) shows thestate in which the protection plate is not rotated.

Then, when external force is not applied to the protection plate 33, atthe rotational end in the counterclockwise direction of the protectionplate 33, the corner portions between the two guide pieces 32, 32 are inthe state in which they cover the both side ends of the rotational endedges of the protection plate 33 (refer to FIG. 25). In addition, inthis state, the corners of the contact portions 35, 35, 35 of theabove-mentioned respective terminals 31, 31, 31 are in the state ofengaging with the above-mentioned slits 39, 39, 39, (refer to FIG. 25).

Then, as will be described later in detail, when the battery pack 100 isloaded on the battery loading portion 10, the terminal case 121 of thebattery side terminal 120 presses the above-mentioned protection plate33 to thereby rotate in the clockwise direction against the spring forceof the helical torsion spring 37 and ends up being positioned in theprotection plate housing portion 13 b of the upper frame body 13 (referto FIG. 29).

As a result, the contact portions 35, 35, 35 of the main body terminal30 are exposed and enter relatively into the terminal dispositiongrooves 124, 124, 124 of the terminal case 121 to thereby be heldbetween the pair of contact pieces 125, 125, and the electrical contactis established (refer to FIG. 28).

In this manner, when the protection plate 33 is in the state in which itis not subjected to external force, since the protection plate 33 is inthe state of covering the contact portions 35, 35, 35, the contactportions are not exposed to thereby prevent foreign materials fromattaching thereto (refer to FIG. 25).

In addition, when any kind of collision occurs on the portion of themain body terminal 30, for example, such as when the battery pack 100 isloaded in a wrong orientation (erroneous loading); there is apossibility that a member other than the battery terminal 120 maycollide with the main body side terminal 30.

Even on such an occasion, since the guide pieces 32, 32 are formed to belarger than the contact portions 35, 35, 35, the external force actsmainly on the guide pieces 32, 32, but not on the contact portions 35,35, 35 to thereby prevent the contact portions 35, 35, 35 from beingdeformed.

Further, when comparatively small foreign materials collide with themain body side terminal 30, since they collide with the protection plate33 prior to colliding with the terminal piece 31 (contact portion 35)due to the presence of the above-mentioned protection plate 33, theexternal force is alleviated so that the contact portion 35 is notdirectly subjected to large external force.

Furthermore, as described above, since the protection plate 33 isprovided in the state of being held between the two guide pieces 32, 32,when external force with a front and back directional element is appliedto the protection plate 33, since the guide pieces 32, 32 act so as tosupport the protection plate 33, and further, since, as described abovein the three respective contact portions are inserted in the slits 39,39, 39, the external force acts on the three contact portions 35, 35, 35through the respective slits 39, 39, 39 against the front and backdirectional displacement of the protection plate 33. Consequently, sincethe external force never acts on the one contact portion 35, it ispossible in this regard to prevent the contact portions 35, 35, 35 frombeing deformed.

By the way, as in the above-mentioned embodiment, such main body sideterminal 30 may have guide pieces 32, 32 integrally formed at theportion of the upper frame body, and terminal pieces 31, 31, 31integrally formed by insert molding or a protection plate 33 rotatablyprovided, or may have respective portions molded or formed as anothermember in a base member of a predetermined form to thereby attach suchmember to the upper frame body 13 as a terminal.

Next, how the battery side terminal 120 is connected to the main bodyside terminal 30 when the battery pack 100 is loaded on the batteryloading portion 10 will be explained.

First of all, the battery pack 100 has the battery side terminal 120(including the terminal positioning rib 109, the terminal pressing rib116) obliquely positioned so as to dive under the over-hang portion 17of the upper frame body 13 so that the main body side terminal 30 andthe battery side terminal 120 are opposed to each other.

Next, when the battery side terminal 120 is made to dive under theabove-mentioned over-hang portion 17 (refer to FIG. 18), the guidepieces 32, 32 of the main body side terminal 30 are relatively insertedin the guide grooves 123, 123 of the battery side terminal 120 (refer toFIG. 26). At this time, since the guide grooves 123, 123 have had theopening side edges thereof chamfered, and the end side edges of theguide pieces 32, 32 have been also chamfered, it has become easy to drawin the both.

In such a condition, the guide pieces 32, 32 are in the state of beingslightly inserted in the guide grooves 123, 123, and as the result ofwhich positioning of the battery terminal 120 relative to the main bodyterminal 30 is performed. As mentioned above, prior to the contactpieces 125, 125 coming in contact with the contact portions 35, 35, 35,since the guide pieces 32, 32 composed of a mold member are engaged withthe guide grooves 125, 125, positioning can be performed by a preciselyformed member. Consequently, precision positioning of both the terminals120, 30 can be performed before the contact pieces 125, 125 and thecontact portion 35 of both the terminal 120, 30 come in contact witheach other, with the result that the contact to be made later on betweenthe contact pieces 125, 125 and the contact portion 35 is performed withhigh precision.

From this state, the lower portion of the battery pack 100 is rotatedand then is loaded on the battery loading portion 10. The rotation ofthe battery pack 100 is performed by having the portion-to-be-locked ofthe back surface case 106 caught by the above-mentioned over-hangportion 17 with the region as rotational fulcrum (refer to FIG. 14).

Then, the contact portion 35 of the main side terminal 30 relativelyenters into the terminal disposition groove 124 of the battery sideterminal 120 (refer to FIG. 27), and contacts with and push aside thetwo contact convex portions 125 a, 125 a so that the contact pieces 125,125 elastically bend and sandwich the contact portions 35. As a result,an electric connection between the battery side terminal 120 and themain body side terminal 30 is established (refer to FIG. 28).

In addition, the relations between the contact portion 35 and thecontact pieces 125, 125 are such that the contact portion 35 relativelymoves in the surface direction thereof, and since the two contact pieces125, 125 are elastically bent in a way that the tip portions (contactconvex portions 125 a, 125 a) thereof are pushed to move away from eachother, unreasonable force does not act between the both, with the resultthat the contact portion 35 and the contact pieces 125, 125 are neverdeformed.

Further, since the relations between the battery side terminal 120 andthe main body side terminal 30 are such that the terminal dispositiongroove 124, 124, 124 that are open in two directions of the battery sideterminal 120 contact with the flat plate-like contact portions 35, 35,35 having corners at approximately right angles thereto, the batteryside terminal 120 can be possibly combined with the main body sideterminal 30 from directions in the range of 90° degrees including theright and left direction and the up and down direction.

That is, when the structures of only the battery side terminal 120 andthe main body side 30 are taken into consideration, the battery sideterminal 120 can be combined with the main body side terminal 30 fromthe left direction or the downward direction, or from the left obliquedownward direction including the just-mentioned directions, meaning thatthe former can be combined with the latter from any of directions in therange of substantially 90° degrees, and further, in any of thecombinations from whichever of these directions, unreasonable forcenever acts on either of the contact portion 35 and the contact pieces125, 125, with the result that the contact portion 35 and the contactpieces 125, 125 are never deformed.

Of course, in the relations between the above-mentioned battery pack 100and the battery loading portion 10 of the camera main body 2, since thebattery side terminal 120 is so intended to combine with the main bodyside terminal 30 from the substantially left direction, it may be saidthat the structures of the battery side terminal 120 and the main bodyside terminal 30 can not be fully brought into play.

However, since loading of the above-mentioned battery pack 100 on thebattery loading portion 10 is performed by rotation, and therefore, thecombination of both the terminals 130 and 30 is not a directionalcomponent of at least only one direction, by employing the terminalstructures, it may be said that the contact portion 35 and the contactpieces 125, 125, of both the terminals 120 and 30 are not subjected tounreasonable force when they combine with each other, and thereby arenot subject to deformation.

In addition, since the contact convex portions 125 a, 125 a are providedat the tip portions of the contact pieces 125, 125 so that the contactconvex portions 125 a, 125 a contact with the contact portion 35, thereis a further possibility that both the terminals are combined with eachother in the range of 90° degrees including the above-mentioned twodirections.

That is, the contact portion 35 enters to push aside the contact pieces125, 125 such that they move away from each other, but since the contactportion 35 contacts with only the contact convex portions 125 a, 125 a,the battery loading portion 10 can receive the battery pack 100 in thesame manner in any of the combinations of both the terminals 120 and 30from any of the directions in the range of 90° degrees including theabove-mentioned two directions.

Further, since the contact convex portions 125 a, 125 a are provided atthe tip portions of the contact pieces 125, 125, even when the positionsin the front and back direction of the contact pieces 125, 125 and thecontact portion 35 are slightly shifted, it is possible to maintain thestable state of the connection between the two terminals (contact piece125, 125 and contact portion 35).

Next, the quality of material and the width of the terminal member 122that affect the state of contact between the contact pieces 125, 125 andthe contact portion 35 relating to the combination of both the terminals120 and 30 will be examined.

In addition, the terminal piece 31 is made of brass thickness: t=0.35mm), and the contact portion thereof is gilded 0.76 μm in thickness.Further, the reason why brass is chosen as the material for the terminalpiece 31 is because brass, phosphor bronze and Beryllium copper aregenerally used as a point of contact, and costs and workability are alsotaken into consideration.

Furthermore, with respect to gilding, a Nickel layer is used as a basesheet, and 0.75 in thickness is set with an eye to increasing a safetyratio because, when the state of use of the battery pack 100 and thevideo camera 1 is taken into consideration, repeated insertion andpulling-out of the battery pack 100 are frequently performed.

Consequently, even if applied to the terminal structures of the videocamera 1 and the battery pack 100, the contact convex portions 125 a,125 a can fully withstand gild wasting when they are in ordinary use.

In addition, the layer thickness of 0.76 μm in gilding is mainly forcontact portions, that is the contact portion 35, though a layerthickness of not more than 0.1 μm in gilding is recommended for the leadportion 34. That is for ensuring an electric connection stability of theboth.

Then, as for the terminal member 122, one is chosen out of four samplesafter testing of them. As materials for such tests, as mentioned above,three materials (brass, phosphor bronze, Beryllium copper) had beenconsidered, but by taking into consideration the spring force of thecontact pieces 125, 125, testings were performed on phosphor bronze andBeryllium copper because of their favorable properties.

A sample {circle around (1)} used phosphor bronze (thickness: t=0.2 μmm)as material with 0.76 μm thick gilding being applied to a contactportion, a sample {circle around (2)} used phosphor bronze (thickness:t=0.2 mm) as material with 0.76 μm thick gilding being applied to acontact portion, a sample {circle around (3)} used Beryllium copper(thickness: t=0.2 mm) as material with 0.76 thick gilding being applieda contact portion, and a sample {circle around (4)} used Berylliumcopper (thickness: t=0.15 mm) as material, and a sample {circle around(4)} used Beryllium copper (thickness: t=0.15 mm) as material with 0.76thick gilding being applied to a contact portion. By the way, as forgilding, a Nickel layer was used as a base sheet as in the case of theabove-mentioned terminal member 122. In addition, the reason why 0.76 μmlayer thickness was chosen is also the same. Further, 0.76 μm gilding onthe contact pieces 125, 125 is the same thickness on contact portions,that is, the contact convex portions 125, 125, and it is recommendedthat gilding on the lead piece 128 be not more than 0.1 μm thick.

As for a testing method, there was performed an endurance test in whichthe terminal piece 31 was inserted into and pulled out from the terminalmember 122 7000 times.

Tests were conducted on items such as contact resistance, total engagingforce, total disengaging force and appearance examinations, and theformer three test items are shown by respective values at predeterminednumbers of times from one to 7000. In addition, appearance examinationswere conducted by visual observation after 7000 times of an endurancetest.

Further, contact resistance was measured by using a 4-terminal methodwith an open circuit voltage set at not more than 20 mV, a short circuitcurrent at not more than 100 mA and a stipulated value at 20 mΩmax.

Total engaging force was measured by engaging the terminal 120 with theterminal 30 (combine), and then, engaging force was measured, and theengaging force was set at 10N (Newton) max.

As for total disengagement force, disengaging force was measured at thetime of when the engagement between both the terminal 120 and theterminal 30 was released, and the disengaging force was set at 0.3N(Newton) min.

The test results about the former three test items will be shown inFIGS. 31 through 33.

With respect to the sample {circle around (1)}, contact resistanceshowed little but stable (refer to FIG. 31) dispersion andinsertion-and-pull-out force was also stable to thereby obtain a goodvalue (refer to FIGS. 32 and 33). In addition, appearance examinationsshowed that the contact convex portions 125 a, 125 a of the contactpieces 125, 125 was worn by proper amounts, and no problematicphenomenon was found.

With respect to the sample {circle around (2)}, contact resistanceshowed large dispersion in the 7000 times endurance test and weak totalengaging force (refer to FIG. 32). In addition, appearance examinationsshowed there were few traces of scratches. It was also observed thattotal engaging force was weak to the extent that contact pressure waslittle to thereby cause a problem with contact resistance.

With respect to the sample {circle around (3)}, there were no problemswith contact resistance and total engaging force as well, thoughdisengaging force varied largely, and a so-called jerky feel atdisengagement tended to occur at a time of disengagement. Further,appearance examinations showed that the more largely disengaging forcevaried, the more many abrasive scratches occurred on the terminal piece31, and the more violently, the contact convex portions 125 a, 125 a ofthe terminal piece 31 were worn.

With regard to the sample {circle around (4)}, total engaging force wasweak, and contact resistance was comparatively stable, though there wasa hidden possibility that a problem would arise with contact resistancevalue. In addition, appearance examinations showed that to the extentthat total engaging force was small, there were few traces of abrasivescratches.

As a result, of the four samples, it can be considered that the sample{circle around (1)} is the most suitable.

Further, as for Beryllium copper, in the case of gilding being appliedto Beryllium, a so-called after-plating (plating process after apredetermined form is fabricated) was only available (others beingdifficult), which was the reason why the sample {circle around (1)} wasselected.

That is, Beryllium copper is generally difficult to form and shape(press working such as bending and folding) after it is gilded, so inthe form of the above-mentioned terminal member 122, its form after itis formed and shaped is such that the contact convex portions 125 a, 125a are in contact with each other. As a result, when gilding is appliedto anything that has such contact portions, the contact portions end upbeing gilded as they are in contact with each other by after-plating.

Meanwhile, with respect to the above-mentioned four samples, they allsatisfied above-mentioned stipulated values (contact resistance: 20mΩmax, engaging force: 10 Nmax, disengaging force: 0.3 Nmin), so therewasn't any problem with selecting any one of these samples. However,when further bad conditions are taken into consideration, the sample{circle around (1)} was favorably selected because good results wereobtained by the sample {circle around (1)}.

Further, contact pressure of the spring force of the contact pieces 125,125, when the sample {circle around (1)} was selected as materials ofthe terminal member 122, will be considered (FIGS. 34 through 36).

Before that, the dimensions and the like of the terminal member 122 andterminal disposition groove 124 on which the terminal member 122 isdisposed will be clearly described (refer to FIGS. 34 and 35).

The contact pieces 125, 125 of the terminal member 122, is, as mentionedbefore, 0.2 mm in thickness, 1.2 mm in width dimension, and the lengthof the portion exposed from a buried portion is 3.9 mm, and theabove-mentioned contact convex portions 125 a, 125 a having r=0.3 areformed with the position 0.45 mm shifted from the edge thereof towardthe base piece 127 side being at the center (refer to FIGS. 34 and 35).In addition, the contact pieces 125, 125 extend from the buried portionsuch that they approach each other, and are bent to thereby becomeparallel to each other approximately at the center of the longitudinaldirection with the interval between the two from the bent portion to theedge portion being formed to be 0.6 mm. As a result, the contact convexportions 125 a, 125 a come into zero contact with each other (refer toFIG. 21).

The opening width of the terminal disposition groove 124 is formed to be0.45 mm, and the plate thickness t of the above-mentioned contactportion 35 is made 0.35 mm, so that when the contact portion 35 entersinto the terminal disposition groove 124 in the standard position(median), the interval between the inner edge of the terminaldisposition groove 124 and the contact portion 35 becomes(0.45−0.35/2=0.05 mm) (refer to FIGS. 34 and 35).

At this time, there occur approximately the same bends to the twocontact pieces 125, 125, and the amount of displacement becomes 0.175mm. In addition, contact pressure at that time becomes 1.0091N (refer toFIG. 36).

Then, when the contact portion 35 is entered into the terminaldisposition groove 124 by being shifted in one direction, the maximumamount of displacement occurs to one contact piece 125 while the minimumamount of displacement occurs to the other contact piece 125, with theresult that respective contact pressure at that time has become 1.4416Nand 0.4609, respectively (refer to FIG. 36).

Therefore, in the case where the above-mentioned material (phosphorbronze) of the above-mentioned sample {circle around (1)} is used, whenthe contact portion 35 comes in contact with the contact convex portion125 a, it is observed that its contact pressure is 1.4416N at themaximum and 0.4609N at the minimum, which is enough as contact pressure.

In the case where gilding is applied, 0.0981N to 0.1961N is generallyenough as contact pressure, though in the above-mentioned sample {circlearound (1)}, contact pressure greater than that is exerted thereon,which seems too excessive.

However, since this terminal structure is based on the premise that itis applied to the electric contact between the battery pack 100 and thevideo camera 1, it is easily predicted that the number of insertions andpulling-out are many, and gilding is worn.

Therefore, it is necessary to secure the value of contact resistancebelow the stipulated value even if the Nickel layer as the base sheetbecomes exposed in case gilding is worn off.

Then, since it is said that contact resistance as the stipulated valuecan be secured when contact pressure of Nickel is generally 0.5884N, bysecuring the maximum value 1.4416N of the other contact piece 125 thoughthe above-mentioned minimum value of one contact piece 125 is 0.4609N,resistance value is made to satisfy the stipulated value even when thegilding is worn off (refer to FIG. 36).

In addition, insulation resistance and withstand voltage were subjectedto examinations as other items of the examination items, with the resultthat the above-mentioned four samples came within the stipulated value,and there weren't any particular differences, it was observed.

Further, as anti-environmental performance, tests of electricperformance and mechanical performance were carried out with respect tomoisture resistance, a temperature cycle and spraying of salty water,with the result that any particular differences could not have beenobtained.

Next, in the above-mentioned embodiments, the battery pack 100(component-to-be-loaded) having the battery side terminal 120 and thevideo camera 1 (main body side apparatus) having the main body sideterminal 30 were cited and explained as examples, though there are a drycell pack 140 (component-to-be-loaded) that also has a battery sideterminal 120 as has the battery pack 100, and the video light 150 and abattery charger 160 each of which has a main body terminal 30 as has thevideo camera 1 (refer to FIGS. 37 through 42).

Further, as for the battery pack 100, there are plural kinds accordingto capacity, and as for the video camera 1, there are acharge-complying-type 1A equipped with a charge function and acharge-non-complying-type 1B without a charge function (refer to FIGS.37 through 40).

When all of these plural kinds of devices (plural kinds of battery pack100, dry cell pack 140 and the like) with the battery pack 100 arecapable of being loaded on apparatus (video camera 1(charge-complying-type 1A and charge-non-complying-type 1B), video light150 and battery charger) having the main body terminal, there are caseswhere problems occur.

For example, the dry cell pack 140 is capable of being loaded on a videocamera 1B (charge non-complying-type) though it is necessary for the drycell pack 140 to be made not capable of being loaded on a video camera1A (charge-complying-type) and the battery charger 160, and further, inthe case of the video light 150, it is necessary for a highcapacity-dedicated-type 150A to be permitted to be loaded on only a highcapacity battery pack 100H of the battery packs 100, and never to bepermitted to be loaded on other low capacity battery pack 100L, standardcapacity battery pack 100S and dry cell pack 140.

Here, the charge-complying-type 1A of the video camera 1 is equippedwith a DC in jack terminal, and when the DC in jack is connectedthereto, a camera main body 2 can be driven by charging the battery pack100 that is loaded on the battery loading portion 10, and thecharge-non-complying-type 1B is apparatus that does not have such acharge function. By the way, the video camera 1 enumerated in theabove-mentioned embodiments belongs to the charge-complying-type 1A onwhich the above-mentioned dry cell pack 140 is not capable of beingloaded.

Then, it is necessary to judge whether or not the battery pack 100,although it has such battery side terminal 120, is capable of beingloaded on the apparatus having the main side terminal 30, and thereby toprevent its loading when it is judged that loading is not permitted.

Then the discriminating tab 111 is provided in the vicinity of theabove-mentioned battery side terminal 120 while the above-mentionedblocking portion 19 for blocking loading of the battery pack 100 or thelike is provided at the corresponding region in the vicinity of the mainbody side terminal 30.

Hereinafter, the specific examples of the discriminating tab 111 of thebattery side terminal 120 and the blocking portion 19 of the main bodyside terminal 30 will be shown.

As for the kinds of the discriminating tab 111 of the battery sideterminal 120, there are four kinds such as an L type, H type and D type,the L type discriminating tab 111L being applied to a low capacity typebattery pack L, the S type discriminating tab 111S being applied to astandard type battery type 100S, the H type discriminating tab 111 beingapplied to a high capacity type battery pack 100H and the D typediscriminating tab 111D being applied to the dry cell 140 (refer toFIGS. 37 through 40).

In addition, as for the kinds of the blocking portion 19 of the mainbody side terminal 30, there are four kinds such as a type I, a type II,a type III and a type IV, the blocking portion I being applied to thevideo camera 1A of the charge-complying-type (the same with the batterycharger 160), the blocking portion II being applied to the video camera1B of the charge-non-complying-type, the blocking portion III beingapplied to a high capacity-dedicated video light 150A and the blockingportion type IV being applied to a non-low capacity video light 150(refer to FIGS. 37 through 40).

The S type discriminating tab 111S applied to the standard capacitybattery pack 100S is structured as described above, and has the smallprojecting bars 110 formed to extend in opposite directions (front andback direction) to each other from the left ends of the terminalpositioning ribs 109 that is formed at the position shifted slightlyrightward from the back surface 106 a of the back surface case 106(refer to FIGS. 37 through 40).

The L type discriminating tab 111L applied to the low capacity batterypack 100L is formed such that the small projecting bar 110 formed at theleft end of the terminal positioning rib 109 of the above-mentioned Stype discriminating tab 111S extends to the back surface 106 a of theback surface case 106, and therefore, a small projecting bar 110L of theL type discriminating bar 111L is formed to be continuous from the backsurface 106 a of the back surface case 106 (refer to FIGS. 37 through40).

The H type discriminating tab 111H applied to the high capacity batterypack 100H is such that the small projecting bars 110, 110L extending inopposite directions (front and back direction) to each other in theabove-mentioned S type discriminating tab 111S and the L typediscriminating 111L are not formed (refer to FIGS. 37 through 40).

The D type discriminating tab 111D applied to the dry cell pack 140 issuch that the small projecting bars 110, 110L are not formed from theleft end of the terminal positioning rib 109 as in the above-mentioned Htype discriminating tab 111H, though a discriminating rib 141 extendingin the right direction from the central portion of the terminal pressingrib 116 formed in the front surface case 105 is integrally formed (referto FIGS. 37 through 40).

Next, the structures of respective blocking portions 19, and how theblocking portions 19 are combined with the above-mentioned respectivediscriminating tabs 111 will be explained.

First of all, a blocking portion type I of the main body side terminal30 is applied to the video camera 1A (charge-complying-type 1A) in theabove-mentioned embodiments, and comprised of the over-hang portion 17formed in the upper frame body 13 of the main body side terminal 30 andthe above-mentioned blocking projecting bar 18 formed to extend in theleft direction from the back end of the over-hang portion 17 (refer toFIG. 37).

In such blocking portion type I, since the central portion of theover-hang portion 17 interferes with the discriminating rib 141 of the Dtype discriminating tab 111D, its loading is not permitted, though itsloading is permitted in the cases of the other L, S and H discriminatingtabs since the central portions of the eaves portions 17 thereof do notinterfere with the discriminating tabs 111.

Therefore, the dry cell pack 140 is not capable of being loaded on thecharge-complying-type video camera 1A to which the blocking portion typeI is applied, and consequently, it is possible to prevent the trouble inwhich the dry cell pack 140 is erroneously charged. On the other hand,the battery packs 100L, 100S, 100H to which the other typediscriminating tabs 111L, 111S, 111H are applied are capable of beingloaded on the battery loading portion 10 regardless of capacity thereofbeing high or low (refer to FIG. 37).

In the blocking portion type II, a cutaway 17 a is formed at the centralportion of the over-hang portion 17, and as a result, since theover-hang portion 17 does not interfere with the discriminating tab 141;its loading is permitted, and at the same time, does not have anyportion that interferes with the other type discriminating tabs 111S,111L, 111H, loading of all the types of the discriminating tabs 111L,111S, 111H are consequently permitted (refer to FIG. 38).

Therefore, all of the low capacity battery pack 100L, the standardcapacity battery pack 100S, the high capacity battery pack 100H and thedry cell pack 140 are capable of being loaded on the video camera 1B ofthe charge-non-complying-type to which the blocking portion type II isapplied (refer to FIG. 38).

In the blocking portion type III, one end portion of the blockingprojecting bar 18 formed toward the bottom surface 15 (left direction)reaches the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading portion 10, andanother blocking projecting bar 18 is integrally formed from theabove-mentioned bottom surface 15 ahead of the blocking projecting bar18. The interval between the two blocking projecting bars is formed tobe approximately equal to the interval between the two terminalpositioning ribs 109, 109 that are formed to sandwich theabove-mentioned battery aide terminal 120 from the front and backdirections (refer to FIG. 39).

In such blocking portion type III, since the central portion of theover-hang portion 17 interferes with the discriminating tab 141 of the Dtype discriminating tab 111D, its loading is not permitted, and in the Ltype discriminating tab 111L and the S type discriminating tab 111S,since small projecting bars 110, 110L extending in apposite directions(front and back direction) to each other from the left ends of theseterminal positioning ribs 109 interfere with the above-mentionedblocking projecting bars 18, 18, its loading is not permitted as well.And, in the H type discriminating tab 111H, there is no portion tointerfere with the blocking portion type III, so that its loading istherefore permitted (refer to FIG. 39).

Therefore, the low capacity battery pack 100, the standard capacitybattery pack 100S and the dry cell pack 140 are not capable of beingloaded on the high capacity-dedicated video light 150A to which theblocking portion type III is applied, and only the highcapacity-dedicated battery pack 100H is capable of being loaded on thehigh capacity-dedicated video light 150A (refer to FIG. 39).

In the blocking portion type IV, although the blocking projecting bar 18formed toward the bottom surface 15 (left direction) from the back endof the over-hang portion 17 as in the above-mentioned blocking portiontype does not reach the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading portion10, the small projecting portion 18 a is formed in the extended regionthereof that contacts with the bottom surface 15 of the battery loadingportion 10, and another small projecting portion 18 a is integrallyformed from the above-mentioned bottom surface 15 ahead of the smallprojecting portion 18 a. Then the internal between the two smallprojecting portions 18 a, 18 a is formed to be approximately equal tothe interval between the two terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 that areformed to sandwich the above-mentioned battery side terminal 120 fromthe front and back directions (refer to FIG. 40).

In such blocking portion type IV, since the central portion of theover-hang portion 17 interferes with the discriminating rib 141 of the Dtype discriminating tab 111D, its loading is not permitted, and in the Ltype discriminating 111L, since the small projecting bars 110L, 110Lthat extend in opposite directions (front and back direction) to eachother from the left ends of the terminal positioning ribs 109, 109interfere with the above-mentioned small projecting portions 18 a, 18 a,its loading is not permitted as well. Then, in the S type discriminatingtab 111S, since the small projecting bars 110, 110 that extend inopposite directions (front and back direction) to each other from theterminal positioning ribs 109, 109 formed at the position slightlydetached from the bottom surface 106 a of the battery pack 100 so thatthere is no portion to interfere with the blocking portion type IV, itsloading is, therefore, permitted. In addition, as for the H typediscriminating tab 111H, since there is no portion to interfere with theblocking portion type IV, its loading is, therefore, permitted as well(refer to FIG. 40).

Therefore, the low capacity battery pack 100L and the dry cell pack 140are not loaded on the non-low capacity video light 150B, though thestandard capacity battery pack 100S and the high capacity battery pack100S are capable of being loaded thereon (refer to FIG. 40).

Meanwhile, although not shown in the figures, in the vicinity of thesmall projecting portion 19 a of the blocking portion type IV isdisposed a detection switch to detect the presence of the smallprojecting bar 110 of the S type discriminating tab 111S and to therebyjudge whether it is the S type discriminating tab 111S or the L typediscriminating tab 111L.

Then the above-mentioned non-low capacity video light 150B is providedwith two electric bulbs, and when the high capacity battery pack 100H isloaded, two electric bulbs light up while one electric bulb does so whenthe standard capacity battery pack 100S is loaded.

In this manner, by respectively providing the discriminating tab 111 andthe blocking portion 19 in the vicinity of the battery side terminal 120and the main body side terminal 30, it is possible to judge whether ornot its loading is permitted before the battery side terminal 120 andthe main body side terminal 30 are connected, with the result that toconnect both the terminals is surely avoided in the case of “NO”.Namely, even in the case of erroneous loading, since the above-mentioneddiscriminating tab and the blocking portion are provided in the vicinityof both the terminals 120 and 30, the connection between both theterminals 120 and 30 can be avoided, and therefore, contact between theterminal member 122 and the terminal piece 31 can be avoided.

In addition, the forms of the above-mentioned discriminating tab 111 andthe blocking portion 19 and the positions where they are formed areillustrated as examples. Without being restricted to the illustrations,the discriminating tab 111 and the blocking portion 19 may be providedin the vicinity of the battery side terminal 120 and the blockingportion 19, and further, it should be noted that these forms andpositions are not restricted to the battery pack 100, the dry cell pack140, the video camera 1 (1A, 1B), the video light 150 and the batterycharger 160, but that various kinds thereof can be considered.

Meanwhile, in the above-mentioned embodiments, a recess portion isformed in the portion where the battery side terminal is disposed andonly in its surroundings, and the battery terminal as well as theportion-to-be-locked are provided in the recess portion, though thepresent invention, being not restricted to this, may provide a steppeddifference shown in FIG. 41 between the side (front side in theabove-mentioned embodiment) where the battery side terminal of thebattery case is disposed and another side (back side in theabove-mentioned embodiment) to thereby provide the battery side terminaland the portion-to-be-locked on the recessed front side.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 42, only the battery side terminal and theportion-to-be-locked provided next thereto may project from the surfaceof the battery case.

Further, as shown in FIG. 43, only the battery side terminal, that is,terminal case may be provided on the surface of the battery case tothereby project therefrom, and a part of the terminal case may be madethe portion-to-be-locked. In addition, in this case, concave and convexengaging portions may be provided in the terminal case to thereby serveas the discriminating tab to determine whether or not loading ispermitted.

As apparent from the above-descriptions, the method for preventingerroneous loading of the component-to-be-loaded on the main body sideapparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the mainbody side apparatus has the main body side terminal, thecomponent-to-be-loaded has the component-to-be-loaded side terminal thatjoins with the above-mentioned main body side terminal; thediscriminating tab is provided in the vicinity of thecomponent-to-be-loaded side terminal of the component-to-be-loaded, theblocking portion corresponding to the above-mentioned discriminating tabis provided in the vicinity of the main body side terminal of the mainbody side apparatus to determine whether or not its loading is permittedbased on the combination or the concave and convex engagement, and whenloading is not permitted due to the interference between the blockingportion and the above-mentioned discriminating tab, the electricconnection between the main body side terminal and thecomponent-to-be-loaded side terminal is not to be established.

In addition, the component-to-be-loaded of the present invention ischaracterized in that it has the component-to-be-loaded side terminal tojoin with the main body side terminal provided on the main body sideapparatus, the discriminating tab corresponding to the blocking portionprovided in the vicinity of the main body side terminal of the main bodyside apparatus is provided in the vicinity of the component-to-be-loadedside terminal to determine whether or not its loading is permitted, andwhen loading of the component-to-be-loaded on the main body sideapparatus is not permitted due to the interference between the blockingportion and the above-mentioned discriminating tab, the electricconnection between the main body side terminal and thecomponent-to-be-loaded side terminal is not to be established.

Therefore, in the method for preventing erroneous loading of thecomponent-to-be-loaded on the main body side apparatus of the presentinvention, and the component-to-be-loaded used therefor, even when thecomponent-to-be-loaded that can not be fundamentally loaded is loaded onthe main body side terminal, since the discriminating tab and theblocking portion are provided in the vicinity of the terminals, it ispossible to prevent at least the contact between the terminals so thatthe electric disturbance can be surely prevented.

In the present invention, the locking portion is provided in thevicinity of the main body side terminal, and the portion-to-be-locked isprovided in the vicinity of the component-to-be-loaded side terminal.After the locking portion and the portion-to-be-locked are locked witheach other, since the region on the opposite side of the above-mentionedcomponent-to-be-loaded side terminal of the component-to-be-loaded isrotated so that the component-to-be-loaded is loaded on the main bodyside apparatus, the loading state of the component-to-be-loaded on themain body side apparatus such that it is possible to prevent play in thevicinity of both the terminals and to maintain the stable state ofcontact between the terminals.

In the present invention, since the lock mechanism is provided on theopposite side of the above-mentioned locking portion and theportion-to-be-locked to maintain the state in which thecomponent-to-be-loaded is loaded on the main body side apparatus, it ispossible to secure the stable loading state of thecomponent-to-be-loaded and to make it easy to load and unload thecomponent-to-be-loaded.

In the present invention, since the above-mentionedcomponent-to-be-loaded side terminal is provided shifted in onedirection, a space can be formed in the portion that is on the oppositeside of the component-to-be-loaded side terminal, and can houseelectronic parts such as IC and the like, thereby making it possible toimplement the efficiency of the space.

In addition, FIGS. 44 through 52 show the embodiments of the batterypack according to the present invention. In explaining about FIG. 44through FIG. 52, the battery pack 201 comprises a rectangular-likebattery case 202, a battery cell 203 housed in the battery case 202, asubstrate 205 with an IC chip 204 being mounted thereon for computingand storing the remaining amount of the battery pack 201 and a batteryterminal 206 exposed from one end surface (front end surface) in thelongitudinal direction of the battery case attached on the substrate 205(refer to FIG. 47).

In addition, the U direction, D direction, L direction, R direction, Fdirection and B direction that are shown in the respective figuresdenote respectively the upper, lower, left, right, front, and back,directions. Further, the above-mentioned directionality shown in thisspecification is used for conveniences sake, and depending on the stateof how the battery pack 201 is used, its directionality is properlychanged.

The battery case 202 is comprised of an upper surface case 207 and alower surface case 208, and there is formed a rectangular cutaway 209that is a front end surface of the lower surface case 208 and opens tothe position shifted in the left direction from the central portion ofthe left and right direction and the front end portion of the lowersurface of the lower surface continuous from the position, with theabove-mentioned battery terminal 206 being slid from the upper directionand attached to the rectangular cutaway 209. The front surface of thebattery terminal attached to the rectangular cutaway 209 becomesapproximately flush with the lower surface case 208 (refer to FIG. 48).

In addition, the lower corner portion of the right side surface of thelower surface case 208 is cross-sectionally formed into an L likecutaway, and an erroneous loading prevention groove 210 extending in thelongitudinal direction is formed along the whole length thereof. As aresult, in the inner space of the lower surface case 208, there isformed a stepped difference portion in the region corresponding to theerroneous loading prevention groove 210, with the dimension in left andright width of the upper side half becoming slightly wider than that ofthe lower side half, and the above-mentioned upper surface case 207being formed to be equal to the left and right width of the upper sidehalf of the lower surface case (refer to FIG. 51).

The battery cell 203 is comprised of a battery can 211 one size smallerthan the above-mentioned battery case 202 with one end surface thereofin the longitudinal direction having an opening, a battery lid 212attached to the opening to cover it and a battery element, not shown,housed in the battery can 211 and the like (refer to FIG. 46).

In addition, the left and right width dimension of the battery cell 203is slightly smaller than the left and right width of the lower side halfso that, when the battery cell housed in the battery case 202, there isformed a space (hereinafter, referred to as negative pole side tabdisposition space) 213 at the upper side of the right side surface inthe battery case 202 (refer to FIG. 51).

A positive pole side tab 214 is provided on the battery lid 212, andafter being passed through a land aperture 205 a on the left side of theabove-mentioned substrate 205 the positive pole side tab 214 is soldered(refer to FIG. 46).

One end of a negative pole side tab 215 is welded on a can bottom 211 aof the battery can 211, and the other end of the negative pole side tab215 is extended to the front surface side of the above-mentioned batterylid 22 and soldered after being passed through a land aperture 205 b onthe right side of the substrate 205 (refer to FIGS. 46 and 47).

To be concrete, the negative pole side tab 215 is divided into two of acan bottom side tab 216 and a battery lid side tab 217 with a PTC(Positive temperature coefficient) 218 lying between these can bottomside tab 216 and battery lid side tab 17 (refer to FIG. 46). As aresult, the electric connection between the can bottom side tab 216 andthe battery lid side tab 217 is to be cut off when the battery cell 203reached a predetermined temperature.

In addition, an isolation sheet 219 is disposed between the portion towhich the negative pole side tab 215 is extended and the battery cab 211so that insulation between the battery can 211 and the negative poleside tab 217, particularly, the battery lid side tab 217 is established(refer to FIGS. 46 and 47).

Further, the portions (can bottom side tab 216, PTC 218, battery lidside tab 217) that are extended to the substrate of the negative poleside tab 215 are positioned in the upper side half of the right sidesurface of the battery cell 203, with the result that these can bottomside tab 216, PTC 218, and battery lid side tab 217 are positioned inthe above-mentioned negative pole side disposition space 213 (refer toFIG. 51).

Further, the combination in which the upper surface case 207 is joined,with the lower surface case 208 to cover the battery cell 203 isperformed by ultrasonic welding with peripheral edges of the two in thestate of being joined with each other, though not shown in the figures.Meanwhile, bonding with adhesive material may be performed instead ofultrasonic welding.

Therefore, there can be assembled the battery pack 201 housing onebattery cell 203 in the battery case 202 an which the battery terminal206 is formed on the front end surface, and the erroneous loadingprevention groove 210 having L like cross-section is formed at the lowercorner portion of the right side surface (refer to FIG. 44).

Next, electronic apparatuses having a battery loading portion on whichthe above-mentioned battery pack 201 is loaded will be explained.Meanwhile, any kinds of the electronic apparatuses may be suitable, forexample, such as a digital still camera, video camera, personal computerand the like. The present invention is generally applied to theelectronic apparatuses called a mobile apparatus and a handy apparatusthat are put to use by battery driving.

An electronic apparatus 300 is provided with a casing 301 that has aspace of approximately the same size as that of the above-mentionedbattery pack 201 and an opening in the back direction, and a lock member310 disposed on the edge of the back surface opening for stopping theloaded battery pack 201 from coming off with the inner portion of theabove-mentioned casing 301 serving as a battery loading portion 302(refer to FIG. 44).

On the depth end surface (front end surface) of the battery loadingportion 302 of the casing 301 is provided a main body side terminal 303corresponding to the above-mentioned battery terminal 206 of the batterypack 201 (refer to FIG. 44).

In the lower right portion of the back surface opening of the casing301, there is provided a blocking projecting portion 304 that is formedapproximately equivalent to or slightly smaller than the cross-sectionalform of the erroneous loading prevention groove 210 of theabove-mentioned battery pack 201 (refer to FIGS. 49, 50, and 51).

As a result, when the battery pack 201 is loaded on the battery loadingportion 302 in the regular orientation, the above-mentioned blockingprojecting portion 304 is positioned in the erroneous loading preventiongroove 210 of the battery pack 201 to thereby permit the battery pack201 to be slide-inserted in the battery loading portion 302 (refer toFIGS. 51 and 52(a)).

The lock member 310 is comprised of an L like lock lever 311 seen fromthe flat surface and a urging means 312 or urging the lock lever 311toward the locking direction (refer to FIGS. 49 and 50).

To be concrete, the lock lever 311 comprises a long arm piece 311 a thatis part of the opening side of the right side surface of the casing 301and a short arm piece 311 b provided to project leftward from the backedge thereof with the front end portion of the long arm piece 311 abeing rotatably supported to the casing 301 by a rotation shaftextending in the up and down direction (refer to FIGS. 49 and 50).

A sheet metal member is bent and folded into a U like shape to form theabove-mentioned urging means 312, and the urging means 312 has one piecethereof fixed to the member of the above-mentioned casing 301 side andthe other piece elastically contact with the right surface of the longarm piece 311 a of the above-mentioned lock lever 311, with the resultthat the lock lever 311 is urged to rotate in the opposite direction tothe clockwise direction in the FIGS. 49 and 50.

In addition, the lock lever 311 that is urged to rotate is blocked fromrotating by a rotation blocking means, not shown, and in its state ofbeing blocked, the short arm piece 311 b of the lock lever 311 coversone part of the back surface opening of the casing 301 (refer to FIG.50).

Therefore, in order to load the battery pack 201 on the battery loadingportion 302 of the electronic apparatus 300, the above-mentioned locklever 311 is to be urged in the clockwise direction against the urgingmeans 312 to thereby let the short arm piece 311 b shelter from the backsurface opening of the battery loading portion 302 (refer to FIG. 49),and than the battery pack 201 is slide-inserted into the battery loadingportion 302.

At this time, as mentioned above, in the case where the battery pack 201is in the regular orientation (refer to FIG. 52(a)), that is, inorientation in which the erroneous loading prevention groove 210 ispositioned at the lower right corner, the above-mentioned blockingprojecting portion 304 is positioned in the erroneous loading preventiongroove 210 to thereby permit to slide-insert the battery pack 201. Inaddition, when the battery pack slides into the depth end portion of thebattery loading portion 302, the battery terminal 206 is connected withthe main body side terminal 303, and the lock lever 311 is rotated inthe opposite direction to the clockwise direction with its short armpiece 311 b being locked by the back end surface of the battery pack 201so that the battery pack 201 is to be prevented from coming off from thebattery loading portion (refer to FIG. 50).

In addition, when the battery pack 201 is not in the regularorientation, the blocking portion 304 of the above-mentioned batteryloading portion 302 interferes with the battery pack 201 to therebyprevent its insertion (refer to FIGS. 52 (b), (c), and (d)).

Namely, for example, in the case where the orientation of the batterypick 201 is right in the front and back direction but is upside down(refer to FIG. 52(b)), since there exists no erroneous loadingprevention groove 210 at the lower right corner portion of the batterypack 201, the blocking projecting portion 304 of the battery loadingportion 302 interferes with the lower right corner portion so that it isimpossible to insert the battery pack 201 into the battery loadingportion 302.

Further, in the case where the orientation of the battery case 201 isright in the up and down direction but is reversed in the front and backdirection (refer to FIG. 52(c)) or is reversed both in the up and downdirection and the front and back direction, (refer to FIG. 52(d)), sincethere exists no erroneous loading prevention groove 210 at the lowerright corner portion of the battery pack 201, the blocking projectingportion 304 of the battery loading portion 302 interferes with its lowerright corner portion so that it is impossible to insert the battery pack201 into the battery loading portion 302.

In this manner, when the battery pack 201 is not in the regularorientation, since the battery pack 201 is blocked by the blockingprojecting portion 304 covering part of the back surface opening of thebattery loading portion 302, it is impossible to insert the battery pack201 even slightly into the battery loading portion 304, which leads tothe immediate recognition by the operator that the battery pack 201 beis about to load is in wrong orientation. As a result, even when thebattery pack 201 is capable of being slightly inserted into the batteryloading portion 304, it is possible to prevent the operator fromforcedly loading the battery pack thinking the orientation of thebattery pack is right.

In addition, in the battery pack 201 relating to the above-mentionedembodiments, it has been explained that the square-pole-like batterycell 203 is housed in the square-pole-like battery case 202, but thepresent invention is not limited thereto, which means that a circularcylinder-like battery cell may be housed in the square-pole-like batterycase 201. In short, as far as the battery case is approximatelysquare-pole-like, the present invention can be applied thereto.

Further, in the battery pack 201 relating to the above-mentionedembodiments, it has been explained that the erroneous loading preventiongroove 210 is formed all along the whole length of the sliding directionof the battery case 202, but the present invention is not limitedthereto, which means that an erroneous loading-prevention groove thatreaches the inserting side end surface may be formed, though the lengthof the sliding direction doesn't need the whole length thereof. In thiscase, when the battery pack is erroneously loaded, the blockingprojecting portion of the electronic apparatus side to prevent theloading may be formed at the position shifted toward the depth endportion of the battery loading portion 302.

Furthermore, in the battery pack 201 relating to the above-mentionedembodiments, it has been explained that the erroneous loading preventiongroove 210 is formed at the corner portion of the battery case 201, butthe present invention is not limited thereto, which means that theerroneous loading prevention groove 210 may be formed on the sidesurface of the battery case 201. In this case, by forming an erroneousloading prevention groove at the position shifted to one end side fromthe central portion in the width direction of the side surface on whichthe erroneous loading prevention groove is formed, even when a batterypack is about to be loaded in reversed orientation in both the up anddown as well as front and back directions, erroneous loading of thebattery pack can be prevented.

As apparent from what have been described, the battery pack according tothe present invention, is a battery pack that is loaded on an electronicapparatus by being slid toward the electronic apparatus having a batteryloading portion, and is characterized by having a approximatelysquare-pole-like battery case and a battery terminal provided on one endsurface in the slide direction, and forming an erroneous loadingprevention groove extending in the sliding direction on one part of oneside surface other than the both end surfaces in the sliding directionof the battery case.

Therefore, according the battery pack of the present invention, sincethe form seen from the sliding direction is not symmetry at multiplepoints, by taking advantage of this, it is possible to specify a uniqueorientation with regard to the battery loading portion on the side ofthe electronic apparatus.

As a result, when the battery pack is in different orientation from theregular orientation, it can not be inserted into the battery loadingportion, so that it is possible to prevent the battery pack from beingerroneously loaded.

In addition, since the battery terminal loaded on the battery loadingportion in the regular orientation, it is possible to prevent thetrouble in which both the terminal on the side of the electronicapparatus and the wrong terminal contact with each other.

Further, in the present invention, since the form of the battery cell tobe housed in the battery case is made square-pole-like, there is nospatial waste relative to the square-pole-like battery case, therebymaking it possible to offer the battery pack with large capacity inspite of the whole size.

In the present invention, since the above-mentioned erroneous loadingprevention groove is formed at the corner portion extending in thesliding direction of the battery case, there can be formed apredetermined space between the battery case and the battery cell, andthe space can serve as a space in which the negative pole side tabextended around the battery cell can be disposed, with the result thatspatial efficiency can be obtained.

In the present invention, since the negative pole side tab extended fromthe can bottom of the battery can of the battery cell is disposed at theposition that is on the side surface side where the erroneous loadingprevention groove in the battery case is formed, and avoids theerroneous loading prevention groove, there is no spatial waste, andthereby it is possible to offer the battery pack with large capacity inspite of the whole size.

In the present invention, since the negative pole side tab extended fromthe can bottom of the battery cell to the battery cell lid side isdivided into the can bottom side tab and the battery cell lid side tab,and the PTC is disposed between these can bottom side tab and batterycell lid side tab, the PTC can be spatially housed in the battery casewithout being forced to, so that the safety of the battery pack can beimproved.

The specific forms and structures of respective portions shown in theabove-mentioned embodiments illustrate merely one example of theembodiments in implementing the present invention, and thereby, thetechnical scope of the present invention should not be limitedlyconstrued.

The invention claimed is:
 1. Apparatus comprising: a battery including:opposing front and rear sides provided in a loading direction; opposingright and left sides provided between the front and rear sides; opposingfirst and second sides provided between the front and rear sides, andbetween the right and left sides and defining a thickness of thebattery; a terminal portion located at one of said sides, the terminalportion including a plurality of ribs separated by respective slitshaving terminals disposed therein, the slits being opened in orthogonaldirections, one of the orthogonal directions is in a direction facingtoward the front side; and a step located at the front side configuredto separate a left surface including the left side and a right surfaceincluding the right side, the step having a lower portion and a higherportion separated by a riser, the lower portion in the front sideextending from the left side to the riser and a higher portion in thefront side extending from the riser toward the right side, the stephaving a thickness equal to the thickness of the battery; and an imagingapparatus that receives the battery, the imaging apparatus including: abattery receiving portion to receive the battery loaded in the imagingapparatus; and electric terminals configured to establish an electricconnection with the terminals of the battery when the battery is loadedin the imaging apparatus.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe loading direction is an insertion direction in which the battery isinserted into the battery receiving portion when a user inserts thebattery to the imaging apparatus.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the terminal portion is shifted to the left side relative to alongitudinal center line of the second side.
 4. The apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the ribs separating the slits comprise first ribsand further including a plurality of second ribs located at oppositeends, respectively, of the terminal portion, one of the first ribsexhibiting a width greater than the width of one of the second ribs. 5.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said terminal portion hasthree terminals.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theterminals of the terminal portion are electrically connected to asubstrate.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the terminalportion includes a terminal case, and the terminal case includes convexportions and cut grooves configured to engage with a case of thebattery.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the terminalportion includes a terminal case that exhibits a width extending in aright to left direction.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe battery receiving portion includes a blocking projecting portionthat permits the battery to be slide-inserted in the battery receivingportion when the battery is loaded in the imaging apparatus in properorientation.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the batteryreceiving portion includes a blocking projecting portion that interfereswith slide-insertion of the battery in the battery receiving portionwhen the battery is loaded in that the imaging apparatus in incorrectorientation.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the batteryreceiving portion includes a blocking projecting portion formed at oneof four corners of the battery receiving portion.
 12. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the electric terminals are disposed in thebattery receiving portion of the imaging apparatus and are formed byinsert molding.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theelectric terminals are disposed in the battery receiving portion of theimaging apparatus and are located at a position such that the electricterminals are not visible from an opening of the battery receivingportion when the battery is loaded in the imaging apparatus.
 14. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the electric terminalsis formed as a flat plate, each terminal of the battery is formed as apair of contact pieces arranged to face each other, and wherein each ofthe electric terminals is inserted in a gap between a respective pair ofcontact pieces when the battery is loaded in the imaging apparatus. 15.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the battery receivingportion includes four side walls and a bottom portion defining a batteryreceiving space.
 16. The apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising a lock member disposed in an opening of the battery receivingportion for preventing a loaded battery from being inadvertentlydischarged from the imaging apparatus.
 17. The apparatus according toclaim 16, wherein the lock member is moved in a direction from the rightside toward the left side of the battery.
 18. A battery comprising:opposing front and rear sides provided in a loading direction; opposingright and left sides provided between the front and rear sides; opposingfirst and second sides provided between the front and rear sides, andbetween the right and left sides and defining a thickness of thebattery; a terminal portion located at one of said sides, the terminalportion including a plurality of ribs separated by respective slitshaving terminals disposed therein, the slits being opened in orthogonaldirections, one of the orthogonal directions is in a direction facingtoward the front side; and a step located at the front side configuredto separate a left surface including the left side and a right surfaceincluding the right side, the step having a lower portion and a higherportion separated by a riser, the lower portion in the front sideextending from the left side to the riser and a higher portion in thefront side extending from the riser toward the right side, the stephaving a thickness equal to the thickness of the battery.
 19. Thebattery according to claim 18, wherein the loading direction is aninsertion direction in which the battery is inserted into a batteryreceiving portion of imaging apparatus when a user inserts the batteryto the imaging apparatus.
 20. The battery according to claim 18, whereinthe terminal portion is shifted to the left side relative to alongitudinal center line of the second side.
 21. The battery accordingto claim 18, wherein the ribs separating the slits comprise first ribsand further including a plurality of second ribs located at oppositeends, respectively, of the terminal portion, one of the first ribsexhibiting a width greater than the width of one of the second ribs. 22.The battery according to claim 18, wherein said terminal portion hasthree terminals.
 23. The battery according to claim 18, wherein theterminals of the terminal portion are electrically connected to asubstrate.